Call it “artificial emotional intelligence” — the kind of artificial intelligence (AI) that can now detect the emotional state of a human user.
Or can it?
More importantly, should it?
For the most part, and for now, the use of emotion AI tools may be misguided, but mostly harmless, as long as everyone involved truly consents. But as the technology gets better, and face-interpreting, body-language reading technology approaches mind-reading and lie detection, it could have serious implications for business, government, and society.
In general, all this is part of a new phase in the evolution of AI and our relationship to the technology. While we’re learning that it can solve myriad problems, we’re also finding out it can create new ones.