Does Artificial Intelligence have a ‘heart?’
Written by: Maddison Kurniawan

Tarana Burke once said, “ An exchange of empathy provides an entry point for many people to see what healing feels like.” There has been a heated discussion among people regarding whether or not artificial intelligence (AI) will one day be invigorated well enough to the point it could feasibly replace humans. Empathy is a valuable part of human development; if it cannot be found within many people, can we continue to expect that AI will be capable of holding empathy?

 

AI has evolved rapidly over time, to the extent that it may be able to detect an individual’s feelings based on their tone. They’re able to generate warm and comforting words based on the data given to them, behaving like an actual human from the other screen. Therapists often use AI to instantly decipher the context of a therapy session through voice recognition software. 

 

However, AI is not human. When people carry deep conversations with one another, there is compassion as they converse, and what makes them feel better is the sympathy they perceive. AI may be swift in analyzing and stimulating responses to a certain emotion, but it will not have a deep empathic understanding of the situation. There are possible cases where AI may misinterpret the situation and end up generating words that are inappropriate to the situation. It lacks a true sense of morality and misses out on the ability to weigh complex ethical dilemmas.

 

Despite these challenges, AI can still be valuable tools for doctors, therapists, and others who may not have a said ‘shoulder to lean on’; however, a human’s heart is utterly compassionate, solicitous, and consoling. Perhaps AI may provide an individual with simple words of encouragement and warmth, but it will always lack one thing: unfeigned empathy.