[2212.10983] Computer says "No": The Case Against Empathetic Conversational AI
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Computer Science > Computation and Language

arXiv:2212.10983 (cs)
[Submitted on 21 Dec 2022 (v1), last revised 6 Jul 2023 (this version, v2)]

Title:Computer says "No": The Case Against Empathetic Conversational AI

Authors:Alba Curry, Amanda Cercas Curry
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Abstract:Emotions are an integral part of human cognition and they guide not only our understanding of the world but also our actions within it. As such, whether we soothe or flame an emotion is not inconsequential. Recent work in conversational AI has focused on responding empathetically to users, validating and soothing their emotions without a real basis. This AI-aided emotional regulation can have negative consequences for users and society, tending towards a one-noted happiness defined as only the absence of "negative" emotions. We argue that we must carefully consider whether and how to respond to users' emotions.
Comments: Accepted to Findings of the ACL 2023
Subjects: Computation and Language (cs.CL); Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)
Cite as: arXiv:2212.10983 [cs.CL]
  (or arXiv:2212.10983v2 [cs.CL] for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2212.10983

Submission history

From: Amanda Cercas Curry [view email]
[v1] Wed, 21 Dec 2022 12:36:17 UTC (14,182 KB)
[v2] Thu, 6 Jul 2023 10:52:49 UTC (7,100 KB)
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