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Multidisciplinary Review of Artificial Empathy: From Theory to Technical Implementation and Design

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Cross-Cultural Design (HCII 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14702))

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Abstract

Collaboration between humans and intelligent agents has become an integral component of everyday life due to advancements in intelligent technologies. Emotional communication plays a particularly important role in this human-computer relationship. In addition to enhancing experiences, emotional communication facilitates decision-making, improves efficiency, and serves various other beneficial purposes. Current research is focused on human-computer empathy, which enables intelligent agents to seamlessly integrate into human societies by simulating empathic emotions. This research draws upon knowledge from psychology, computer science, design, sociology, and other relevant disciplines. This paper provides an overview of human-computer empathy, covering definitions, principles, technical implementations, and design aspects to illuminate the complex landscape of knowledge in this area. Two specific areas are given detailed attention: technical implementation and empathy design. In the technical implementation section, the paper delves into the psychological theoretical foundations for developing artificial empathy models, techniques of affective computing, and related artificial empathy models. In the design section, it discusses methods for implementing empathic responses, analyzing designs using social psychology, and outlines various design principles and evaluation methods. Finally, the paper addresses ethical considerations, design challenges, and other pertinent topics.

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  1. Department of Information Art and Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Chiju Chao, Zhiyong Fu & Yu Chen

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  1. Chiju Chao
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  1. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Pei-Luen Patrick Rau

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Chao, C., Fu, Z., Chen, Y. (2024). Multidisciplinary Review of Artificial Empathy: From Theory to Technical Implementation and Design. In: Rau, PL.P. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14702. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60913-8_14

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