Alan Cowen, CEO and founder of Hume AI, dives into the fascinating world of emotional intelligence in artificial intelligence. He discusses why it's crucial for AI to not only interpret text but also to understand emotions through voice and facial expressions. Cowen shares insights on how this technology can revolutionize customer service and enhance user experiences. The conversation also touches on AI's potential to communicate with animals and the ethical implications of emotionally intelligent AI in our everyday lives.
57:18
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Emotional AI's Importance
Emotional intelligence is crucial for AI to address user concerns and fulfill requests.
AI systems must learn to understand and incorporate user preferences, maximizing user happiness.
insights INSIGHT
Limitations of Text in Conveying Emotion
Text communication has limitations in conveying emotions due to its lack of vocal and facial cues.
Conventions like punctuation and capitalization are used to compensate, but complex emotions are difficult to express.
insights INSIGHT
Evolution of Emotion Research
Early emotion research, like Ekman's six basic emotions, was limited by data and tools.
Modern data science reveals a far more nuanced and granular understanding of human emotions.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
This book, published in 1872, is Charles Darwin's third major work on evolutionary theory. It delves into the biological aspects of emotional behavior, arguing that human emotional expressions have their origins in animal behavior. Darwin introduces principles such as 'the principle of serviceable associated Habits', 'the principle of Antithesis', and 'the principle of actions due to the constitution of the Nervous System'. He analyzes various emotions and their expressions, highlighting the universal nature of these expressions across different species and cultures. The book was illustrated with photographs, drawings, and woodblock prints, making it one of the first scientific works to use photographs extensively. Darwin's work challenged the prevailing view that human facial muscles were divinely created for unique emotional expressions, instead linking them to evolutionary heritage[2][3][4].
Mating in Captivity
Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
Esther Perel
In this book, Esther Perel explores the paradoxical union of domesticity and sexual desire, arguing that our cultural penchant for equality, togetherness, and absolute candor can be antithetical to erotic desire. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience as a couples therapist, Perel uses case studies and lively discussions to demonstrate how more exciting, playful, and poetic sex is possible in long-term relationships. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining independence, mystery, and the space between self and other to sustain desire.
Alan Cowen is the CEO and founder Hume AI. Cowen joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how his company is building emotional intelligence into AI systems. In this conversation, we examine why AI needs to learn how to read emotion, not just the literal text, and examine at how Hume does that with voice and facial expressions. In the first half, we discuss the theory of reading emotions and expressions and in the second half we discuss how it's applied. Tune in for a wide ranging conversation that touches on the study of emotion, using AI to speak with — and understand — animals, teaching bots to be far more emotionally intelligent, and how emotionally intelligent AI will change customer service, products, and even staple services today.
---
Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.
Big Technology Podcast 
