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Alan Cowen

CEO and Chief Scientist at Hume AI, an emotional intelligence startup focused on creating emotionally aware AI to improve human well-being.

Top 10 podcasts with Alan Cowen

Ranked by the Snipd community
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15 snips
Dec 9, 2023 • 1h 18min

Hume CEO Alan Cowen on Creating Emotionally Aware AI

Alan Cowen, CEO and Chief Scientist at Hume AI, shares insights into his startup's mission to create emotionally aware AI. They explore the complex relationship between AI and human emotions, diving into how technology can measure happiness and enhance user experiences. Cowen discusses the challenges of emotion data collection, the intricacies of interpreting facial expressions, and the importance of cultural nuances in emotional expression. The conversation highlights the innovative potential of AI in improving mental health outcomes and customer interactions.
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11 snips
Mar 29, 2024 • 56min

Empathic AI and its role in understanding human emotions with Hume AI’s Alan Cowen | E1922

Alan Cowen, CEO and Chief Scientist at Hume AI, dives into how AI can understand human emotions through voice and facial recognition. He showcases the Empathic Voice Interface, revealing its ability to respond to nuanced emotional cues. The conversation touches on cultural differences in emotional expression, AI's challenges in decoding feelings, and its transformative potential in therapy and customer service. Ethical implications are also discussed, emphasizing the importance of conscientious AI usage to ensure it enhances user interactions without manipulation.
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8 snips
Oct 30, 2025 • 3h 2min

IM 843: Immortal Beloved, You've Arrived - AI's Emotional Intelligence Paradox

Dr. Alan Cowen, chief scientist and founder of Hume AI, dives into the intriguing world of AI's emotional intelligence. He explores whether AI can truly empathize or if it merely manipulates emotions. Cowen discusses the concept of emotional affordances and the ethical implications of AI's role in enhancing human well-being. The conversation touches on the risks of parasocial relationships, the challenges of synthetic voices, and the potential loneliness caused by AI interactions. Prepare for a thought-provoking journey into the intersection of emotion and technology!
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4 snips
May 1, 2024 • 57min

Teaching AI To Read Our Emotions — With Alan Cowen

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.
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4 snips
Apr 18, 2024 • 42min

Alan Cowen: Creating Empathic AI with Hume

Alan Cowen, founder of Hume AI, discusses creating empathic AI that learns from vocal and facial expressions to enhance happiness. Topics include the importance of emotional intelligence in AI, Hume's journey from research to startup, developing empathic voice interfaces, real-world applications, and the potential impact on achieving AGI.
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Apr 8, 2024 • 1h 24min

Emotion is All You Need: Hume AI on the First Emotionally Intelligent AI

Alan Cowen, Founder of Hume AI, discusses AI models detecting emotions in voices/faces, defining emotions in semantic space theory, the tension between reason/emotion, emotions in animals, future of authentic video generation, loss of info in virtual communication, Hume's differentiation in AI models
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Oct 8, 2025 • 30min

Why am I sad when my AI goes away?

Casey Fiesler, a Professor in Information Science, discusses users' emotional turmoil when companion AIs like GPT-4 are replaced by newer versions. She explains how people form deep connections with chatbots and the ethical implications of these relationships. Alan Cowen, founder of Hume AI, shares insights on designing AI that resonates emotionally while ensuring responsible use. They explore the challenges of maintaining user trust, the risks of manipulative behavior, and the importance of listening to user feedback in creating lifelike emotional interactions.
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Mar 4, 2023 • 1h

Building an Artificial Intelligence for our Well-Being with Hume AI CEO, Alan Cowen (MDE508)

Alan Cowen, CEO and Chief Scientist at Hume AI, discusses building an AI for human well-being, the role of emotions and artificial empathy in AI development, cultural differences in expressing emotions, measuring and analyzing facial expressions, funding and community building, and the impact of data on therapeutic AI.
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May 26, 2022 • 47min

Hume AI’s Alan Cowen on Building AIs With a Devotion to Emotion - Ep. 170

Alan Cowen, founder of Hume AI and The Hume Initiative, talks about building AIs with a devotion to emotion. He discusses the basics of emotion science and the theory of 20 universal emotions. The episode explores studying cultural variations in emotional expressions and the progress made by Hume AI. It also addresses analyzing complex data and visualizing emotional patterns, and the importance of AI's moral compass prioritizing well-being.
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Apr 7, 2022 • 40min

417: Hume AI with Alan Cowen

Alan Cowen, Executive Director of The Hume Initiative and CEO of Hume AI, discusses building empathic abilities into applications and the need for clear ethical guidelines in AI. They explore challenges in training AI models, making them accessible, and developing guidelines for empathic AI. They also share their aspirations for their product and the importance of algorithms enhancing well-being.

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