“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence and is not the triumph of heart over head, but is the unique intersection of both.”
The talent to understand and manage one’s own emotions, and recognise and influence the emotions of others is widely known as emotional intelligence.People with high emotional intelligence are at least fifty per cent more likely to embrace success, compared to those with average or below average EI.The said reality clearly implies that Artificial Intelligence can no longer ignore the presence of EI. Sometime, in the near future, it will have to confront this. The sooner it happens, the smoother it becomes. Emotion is a deep topic. The study of human emotions means the journey towards the deepest layer of human consciousness. From motivation, learning and evaluation to decision making, emotion influences almost all the areas, into which AI aspires to expand.It at present appears far away from the horizon of the capacity of Artificial Intelligence. It may take years or even decades for AI to grow as high as its present aspiration.
Intelligence and emotion are two entirely different elements. In simple terms, the former is the head, when the latter is the heart. Both, though express contradicting ideas, remain inseparable for the bonding they share with each other.A normal human action – the one without any flaws – is the contribution of a perfectly balanced combination of intelligence and emotion. How far AI has succeeded in mastering the concept of emotion is the question, which will decide the course of the present technology revolution.AI should work more on emotional intelligence. Its prime focus should be to understand various factors related to emotion.
Developing self-awareness is the prime target AI strives to achieve. If it is met, that will be a huge milestone. Definitely, it is not as simple as how it sounds. Mastering emotion is the only feasible option available.Deep learning, self-awareness, external awareness, safety and ethics, and big data collection and processing modules make the five prime areas, in which AI needs to make progress if it aims to tame EI, and to add the possibility to enhance the potential of the existing. Without emotion, human is just a machine. Any attempt made by AI to match its performance with that of human is useless unless the technology achieves a significant progress in the area of EI.Emotion is what makes human unique. In a sense, emotion is the real strength of mankind.
What comes naturally with a new advancement is new challenges. Before AI completes its task of embracing emotion, it needs to address the challenges that emerges as a part and parcel of this advancement. Privacy, accuracy, safety, responsibility and lack of understanding remain the five important challenges that should be addressed.
“A lot of movies about artificial intelligence envision that AIs will be very intelligent but missing some key emotional qualities of humans and therefore turn out to be very dangerous.”
Related Article: Understanding the Concept of AI with EI
Vignesh Padamattingal
