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Can AI feel? A leader’s guide to affective computing

Leading Off

You read my mind ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
Leading Off

Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

Even as organizations worldwide adapt to generative AI technologies, researchers and scientists are pursuing new AI ventures that may bring the technology closer to human ways of thinking and reasoning. For example, “emotion AI,” also known as affective computing, enables machines to understand and respond to human emotions, voices, and facial expressions, and the day may not be far off when machines work closely enough with humans to solve the pressing issues that affect business and society. This week, we explore some emerging trends in AI for leaders to consider.
An image linking to the web page “Gen AI: A cognitive industrial revolution ” on McKinsey.com.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman believes that AI agents can be trained to demonstrate emotional intelligence (EQ) as well as factual knowledge. Now a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners, Hoffman recently cofounded Inflection AI, whose first product is described as a supportive, empathetic, and conversational AI. Describing generative AI as the “steam engine of the mind” and the “cognitive industrial revolution,” Hoffman discusses the technology’s potential with McKinsey senior partner Lareina Yee. “The steam engine gave us a tremendous number of physical superpowers in manufacturing, transport, and construction,” he says. “The same thing is happening now with cognitive capabilities in anything that we do that uses language. What you should take as a certainty when it comes to work over the next five-plus years is that AI is going to . . . amplify any capability that includes language—or the cognitive functioning of language.”
An image linking to the web page “Why we need to rethink the purpose of AI: A conversation with Stuart Russell” on McKinsey.com.

How can AI benefit humanity rather than causing harm to it? That question should be at the core of future AI development, says pioneering computer scientist Stuart Russell in a discussion with McKinsey. Rather than looking to build “intelligent” systems, business and society could be better off focusing on AI models that work with humans to achieve a beneficial goal. “Instead of writing algorithms that find optimal solutions for a fixed objective, we can write algorithms that solve this problem of functioning as sort of one-half of a combined system with humans,” says Russell. “The new model would be more like the perfect butler, who understands what you want, what you might not want, and knows when to ask and when to defer to what your preferences might be. I think that’s, in a nutshell, where we want to go.”
An image linking to the web page “An inside look at how businesses are—or are not—managing AI risk” on McKinsey.com.

More than a decade ago, the sci-fi movie Her gave audiences a preview of a world in which a human can form a loving relationship with an AI-driven computer operating system. In real life, the emotional aspect of AI may be more problematic. AI may not be able to detect a human’s facial expressions, feelings, or tone of voice accurately: for example, an AI model could disqualify job applicants whose faces appear “angry,” or voice assistants could perpetuate gender stereotypes. The growing number of risks associated with AI make it more important than ever to manage the technology responsibly, notes McKinsey partner Liz Grennan. “One of the biggest changes over the past few years is the concept of personal liability for senior executives and board members for oversight failures,” she says.

Lead by using AI with humanity.

— Edited by Rama Ramaswami, senior editor, New York

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by "McKinsey Leading Off" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 04:19 - 24 Jun 2024