Digital technology is not only used to mimic and support human reasoning, inference and decision-making („artificial intelligence“), but also to recognize, influence and simulate human emotions. While research on this (under the label of “affective computing”, “emotion computing”, or “emotion AI”) and development of applications in this area are progressing rapidly, critical reflection from the humanities and ethical considerations on this have been comparatively little differentiated so far. In this seminar, we will look as well at the underlying theory of emotions as well as at application examples of this technology, in order to discuss them from the perspective of the philosophy of emotions and in ethical and moral terms. What kind of understanding of emotions underlies this technology? What are the opportunities and risks associated for example with social robots, friendship chatbots or psychographic targeting for advertising? Literature will be provided on Moodle at the beginning of the term. This is a seminar for advanced students.
Propaedeutic reading: Rana el Kaliouby (with Carol Coleman): Girl Decoded. A Scientist Quest to Reclaim our Humanity by Bringing Emotional Intelligence to Technology. New York: Random House, 2020
- Kursleiter/in: Eva Weber-Guskar