Rosalind Picard (MIT, Affectiva/Empatica)

Rosalind Picard, Sc.D., is a scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author, and engineer. She is a named inventor on over 100 patents. As a result, she a member of the National Academy of Engineering and as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. She is the Grover M. Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at the MIT Media Lab.

Picard is best-known for her book, Affective Computing. She argues emotions are not a distratction in intellgence - they are central to it. In her books she proposed and described how to give skills of emotional intelligence to computers -- including voice assistants, robots, agents, and many kinds of interactive technologies. While trying to create ways to objectively measure data related to emotion, she and her team pioneered wearable technologies to monitor and analyze physiological data in daily life, giving rise to new research and inventions at the intersection of wearables, physiology, and physical and mental health.

Picard coined the term "affective computing". It refers to computing that relates to, arises from, or deliberately influences emotion. 

Why emotions matter? They help humans make decisions, prioritise, communicate. Machines that ignore emotions, risk misunderstanding human needs. For AI to be useful, trustworthy and safe, it must have some level of emotional intelligence. She teaches machines to recognise emotions and respond to our emotions respectfully. 

She very early on warned that this work could be used to manipulate or harm - consent and trasnparency are key.

From Interviews, talks and writings what comes through is how she sees emotion as a form of intelligence. It is not waekness, not a glitch. It is a layer of perception, decision-making and survival. She seems deeply ethical even spiritual. She converted to Christianity while working at MIT. She does not hide her beliefs. For her, empathy, compassion and the sacredness of the human person matter in how we design AI. She believes AI should support human dignity. She does not seem computers as replacements for humans. She sees them as assistive tools. Like a caring partner in learning, healthcare or everyday life. 

Resources

https://web.media.mit.edu/~picard/

https://youtu.be/CJVrrBUY6ms?feature=shared