The logic of feeling: Teaching computers to identify emotions

This is an interview with Professor Emily Mower Provost that was first published by The Michigan Engineer News Center. Using machine learning to decode the unpredictable world of human emotion might seem like an unusual choice. But in the ambiguity of human expression, U-M computer science and engineering associate professor Emily Mower Provost has discovered a rich trove of data waiting to be analyzed. Mower Provost uses machine learning to help measure emotion, mood, and other aspects of human behavior; for example, she has developed a smartphone app that analyzes the speech of patients with bipolar disorder to track their mood, with the ultimate goal of helping them more effectively manage their health. How do you quantify something as ambiguous as emotion in a field where, traditionally, ambiguity is the enemy?