Artificial Empathy: the Next Frontier

July 17, 2017. The Full article by Chrisopher Loom in Asian Scientist Newsroom.

"Cognitive empathy is the conscious desire to recognize and understand the emotional state of others. It is present in humans and apes and requires perspective taking and an expectation of likely outcomes. It allows us to regulate our emotions and respond in a manner in line with the status quo—such as to avoid laughing at an amusing situation during an otherwise serious occasion.

"Emotional empathy (or affective empathy) is an older evolutionary mechanism and traces its origins to further back in the timeline of natural selection. It is present in animals like rodents and parrots and embodies a physical reaction to the emotions of others. An example would be when a rat freezes or tenses up when witnessing its peer receiving an electric shock. There is no reason that it should display the same motor behavior—after all, it’s not receiving the shock.

Diccan's note: the paper does not elaborate much on the techniques used.