3 Ways AI Is Getting More Emotional

In January of 2018, Annette Zimmermann, vice president of research at Gartner, proclaimed: "By 2022, your personal device will know more about your emotional state than your own family." Just two months later, a landmark study from the University of Ohio claimed that their algorithm was now better at detecting emotions than people are. AI systems and devices will soon recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human emotions. With companies like Affectiva, BeyondVerbal and Sensay providing plug-and-play sentiment analysis software, the affective computing market is estimated to grow to $41 billion by 2022, as firms like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple race to decode their users' emotions. Emotional inputs will create a shift from data-driven IQ-heavy interactions to deep EQ-guided experiences, giving brands the opportunity to connect to customers on a much deeper, more personal level.