Humanitarian Dialogue Lab

Better dialogue starts with practice.

KROSS is a rehearsal space for difficult humanitarian conversations. Practise the negotiation before it happens with an AI counterpart that listens to what you actually say.

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KROSS scenario library

Scenarios

Pick a scenario to rehearse

Every scenario is a place, a counterpart, and a set of stakes you can feel. Pick one, read the brief, decide what good would look like, then step in. When the real conversation comes, you have been here before.

Scenario design is CCHN-inspired, adapted from frontline humanitarian negotiation field practice. KROSS is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the CCHN.

Painted view over tents and water tanks of a displacement camp

20 min · Public scenario

Access to an IDP camp

Negotiate entry to a displacement site with the gatekeeper who decides the terms of every visit.

Painted landscape with a white vehicle stopped at a remote checkpoint

10 min · Public scenario

Hostile checkpoint commander

Talk your convoy past a commander who is sure you are carrying something you should not be.

Painted view of an empty rural school building with a swing set

Public scenario

Restoring a school occupied by armed actors

Persuade armed actors to leave a school so classes can restart without turning the standoff into a fight.

Scenario builder

From your brief to a playable scenario

Describe the situation the way you would brief a colleague before a hard meeting. The builder turns that brief into a scenario, showing its work as it builds.

KROSS brief entry screen
KROSS review assumptions screen
KROSS scenario editor for Access to an IDP camp

Trainer mode

Watch live, steer gently, raise the pressure

Trainers sit in on a run and see how the conversation is moving. When the moment is right, they steer it: queue a twist, or turn the dials that shape the counterpart. Every intervention is written to the run log, so the session can be explained afterwards.

  • Watch

    Follow the live exchange as it happens in real time.

  • Steer

    Inject a twist mid-scenario: a rumor, a new order, or a gate that suddenly closes.

  • Dial the counterpart

    Adjust trust, rigidity, and hostility while the run is still going.

Twist queued

A rumor reaches the camp committee before your meeting starts.

Counterpart trustraising
Rigidityholding
Hostilityeasing
Trainer raised rigidity one step · logged Trainer injected twist “camp rumor” · logged
Watch live Inject twist Steer dials

Engine behind

Natural dialogue governed by clear rules

KROSS is not a dialogue tree. The engine reads what you say, plays the other side, and lets clear rules decide where the conversation lands.

  • The AI understands your words and classifies your moves.
  • Deterministic rules shift trust, rigidity, and hostility before each reply.
  • Every change is logged, so trainers and debriefs explain exactly why a conversation evolved.

Step 1

You speak

In your own words. No multiple choice, no scripted prompts to click through.

Step 2

The rules move

Your words are classified, and trust, rigidity, and hostility update before the counterpart answers.

Step 3

The counterpart answers

The AI responds from the updated state, playing their role, constraints, and reactions faithfully.

Step 4

Everything is logged

Each change is written down as it happens, so the debrief can explain every turn.

Debrief

Feedback grounded in the run log

When the run ends, the debrief turns the session into something you can act on: how the skills showed up, the moments worth keeping, what to try instead, and one focus for next time.

Skills in this run

  • Uncovering hidden interests
  • Building trust under pressure
  • Holding a red line calmly
  • Reframing a stalemate

Quoted moments

“You said the team would stay outside the fence. Now they are asking for the keys.” Counterpart · mid-run
“Ask me that again after you have spoken to my deputy.” Counterpart · closing

Try instead

Next time, ask what the commander needs to show his people before he lets the convoy through, then trade from there.

Hidden interests

Found

  • The escort worried about his own accountability
  • Local visibility of the visit

Missed

  • The committee’s fear of setting a precedent

One next focus

Ask one more question before proposing terms.

Ask the Coach

“Why did trust drop after my second question?”

The Coach answers from your own run: the turns you took, the rules that moved, and the log behind them.

Start practicing in minutes

Choose a scenario, test your approach under real pressure, and get evidence-based feedback on every turn.

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