Evaluating Empathy in Artificial Agents

Abstract--The novel research area of computational empathy is in its infancy and moving towards developing methods and standards. One major problem is the lack of agreement on the evaluation of empathy in artificial interactive systems . Even though the existence of well-established methods from psyc hol-ogy, psychiatry and neuroscience, the translation between these methods and computational empathy is not straightforward. It requires a collective effort to develop metrics that are mor e suitable for interactive artificial agents. This paper is ai med as an attempt to initiate the dialogue on this important proble m. We examine the evaluation methods for empathy in humans and provide suggestions for the development of better metri cs to evaluate empathy in artificial agents. We acknowledge the difficulty of arriving at a single solution in a vast variety o f interactive systems and propose a set of systematic approac hes that can be used with a variety of applications and systems. Emerging technologies continue to change the ways in which we interact with computers. Computational systems are evolving from being mere tools to assistants, trainers and companion agents. All of these new roles assigned to these systems highlight the importance of embodying these agents with social and emotional capabilities.