Affective Computing

If we want computers to be genuinely intelligent and to interact naturally with us, we must give them the ability to recognize, understand, even to have and express emotions. The latest scientific findings indicate that emotions play an essential role in decision making, perception, learning, and more—that is, they influence the very mechanisms of rational thinking. Not only too much, but too little emotion can impair decision-making according to Rosalind Picard. In Part 1 of this book she provides the intellectual framework for affective computing. It includes background for human emotions, requirements for emotionally intelligent computers, applications of affective computing, and moral and social questions raised by the technology.