Intelligent Agents with Emotional Intelligence: Current Trends, Challenges, and Future Prospects

Developing intelligent agents that possess human-level intelligence is a key goal in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) and general artificial intelligence[2]. A crucial aspect of achieving this goal is the incorporation of emotional intelligence, which is essential for human cognition and social interaction, into these intelligent agents. Emotional intelligence encompasses three interrelated capabilities: 1) emotion understanding, which involves accurately detecting and understanding affective signals, such as recognizing individuals' emotional states during interactions; 2) emotion elicitation and experiences, which refers to interpreting the causes, context, and implications of emotions for both the individual and the interaction; and 3) emotion expression, which encompasses the capacity to generate, modulate, and convey appropriate emotional responses in a socially meaningful manner. Affective Computing, coined by Rosalind Picard [1], emerged as a discipline dedicated to equipping machines with emotional intelligence, enabling them to recognize, interpret, and respond to human emotions. By embedding emotional intelligence into intelligent agents, affective computing facilitates more naturalistic, adaptive, and socially competent interactions, which in turn enhances user trust, engagement, and satisfaction [209]. Such emotionally intelligent systems not only improve usability but also enable advanced functionalities, including personalized assistance, empathetic dialogue, and context-aware decision-making. In Figure 1, an overview of the emotional intelligence capabilities in intelligent agents is presented. The process of emotional intelligence begins with analyzing the emotional aspects of the user input, enabling the agent to identify the user's affective state during interactions [259][306]. The next step is affective cognition, where the agent evaluates the observed emotional events using cognitive mental states to ensure accurate interpretation.