As software for detecting emotions emerges, the debate continues over the use of artificial intelligence in our lives.
Driving the news: Companies like Zoom argue that using an AI that helps people understand and respond to human emotion can become a tool that teachers or salespeople use to build rapport, which is why Zoom is planning to add an emotion detecting software.
According to Protocol, Intel is also testing out software called Class by Classroom Technologies which can detect when students are bored, distracted or confused using facial expressions. This can give teachers a better idea of when students are struggling during online school.
The other side: Even though more companies are adopting this technology in one way or another, critics think there is much more to be discussed.
- “It’s unclear how consent to be emotionally analyzed is obtained (or if it’s even sought), but, again, we’re dealing with adults in a sales situation where this sort of manipulation is considered normal behavior,” wrote a Tech Dirt writer.
- “The premise of these technologies is that our faces and inner feelings are correlated in a very predictable way,” said Alexa Hagerty, a researcher at the University of Cambridge Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. “If I smile, I’m happy. If I frown, I’m angry. But the APA did this big review of the evidence in 2019, and they found that people’s emotional space cannot be readily inferred from their facial movements.”
- These emotion-reading systems also fail racial bias tests. In one study, the AI assigned more negative emotions to black men’s faces than white men’s faces.
Between the lines: Even though this technology is still in its early stages, it is already being used to help users get transferred to a human operator during automated calls. It does that by sensing anger or frustration, according to Axios.
What to expect: The market for emotion detection and recognition is projected to grow from $23.6 billion in 2022 to $43.3 billion by 2027, according to a market forecast.