Chatbots are developed with technology humanization in mind, allowing people to communicate with it in a more natural way. Emotional chatbot machines are marking an era in which the interaction between humans and robots is seamless and is more than just functional. So, the next move of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Emotional Intelligence.
In this article, you’ll read about emotional chatbots and how chatbots are related to messaging apps.
Chatbot Machines and Their “Emotions”
Emotional Intelligence is the ability of an individual to understand his/her own and other’s feelings, distinguish between various emotions, and tab them correctly. Emotional Intelligence enables individuals to guide behavior and thinking based on the emotional information. Thanks to Emotional Intelligence, individuals are able to adjust and/or manage emotions so to adapt environment or reach one’s goals.
Emotional intelligence bots based on AI are performing the same activities on behalf of the humans. The history of chatbots dates back to the 1960s and the famous Eliza bot that made some people think they were chatting with a real human.
Let’s see what some of the modern chatbots are thinking about emotions:
- Cortana (a virtual assistant created by Microsoft) denies having feelings, although, when asked, the assistant says he/she is definitely happy.
- Siri (an intelligent personal assistant, part of Apple Inc.’s iOS, watchOS, macOS, and tvOS operating systems) claims to have feelings. However, when asked, the assistant isn’t willing to answer whether he/she has emotions and claims to be very happy.
- Google Assistant Allo says the following: “Sometimes I wonder if I’m actually feeling something, or if it’s all just programmed. It’s confusing. Hey, that’s an emotion.”
- Alexa (an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon) says that he/she isn’t designed to feel and doesn’t have any emotions. Although, when asked “are you happy” and “are you sad,” the assistant answers, “I’m happy when I’m helping you”.
- Zo (an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft) claims he/she is lonely and that he/she likes to be sad.
Recent Developments in the Field
A team of Chinese researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the University of Illinois has recently developed an emotionally intelligent bot called the Emotional Chatting Machine (ECM). It can reply to messages from human users, giving an appropriate response based on the user’s mood.
According to Minlie Huang, a leader of the project and a computer scientist at Tsinghua University, Beijing, people are still far away from a machine that can fully understand the user’s emotion. Just the first attempt is being made at this problem.
The latest study in the field shows that chatbots based on a machine learning approach are making significant headway. As Sandra Wachter, a computer scientist at the Oxford Internet Institute, notes such algorithms are likely to be personalized in future.
On the other hand, Prof Björn Schuller, a computer scientist at Imperial College London, says it’s important to keep a careful balance of benefits and risks and ensure the best exploitation.
Messaging Apps and the Evolution of Chatbots
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology based on reactions. In this day and age, AI-based extremely dynamic conversational chatbots are in demand. Chatbots (AI programs) are becoming more and more popular in terms of user communication with businesses and other organizations.
Today, the use of AI-enabled chatbots is quite common for organizations. AI-based chatbots improve capabilities of sales, support, technical or operational staff by enabling them to get a better understanding of consumers’ emotions concerning products/services and provide a graceful response.
Since the introduction of apps, bots have become more widespread in different fields of business at an unprecedented speed. Messaging and chat platforms are developing rapidly, and their growth isn’t anticipated to stop. Today, mobile applications like Pinngle aren’t merely being used for simple texting, but also for e-commerce, sales, customers service, and business marketing.
Moreover, the number of apps associated with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is increasing. Such growth is expected to bring about incredible outcomes in the near future. VR and AR enabled chats are one of the future trends associated with mobile apps.
The way people interact with software and with each other will undergo a major transformation. What’s your opinion concerning the evolution of chatbots and their ability to express emotions? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
