The future of AI technology isn’t faster or more powerful—it’s empathetic. 
Alan Cowen is leading the way with an AI model that can understand and respond to your emotions.
Alan is the cofounder and CEO of Hume, an AI research lab developing a model that can identify how you’re feeling from your voice and facial expressions.
The best part? Once it understands your emotions, it’s trained to interact with you in a way that optimizes for your well-being and leaves you feeling happy.
I can’t think of a better person than Alan to spearhead this new frontier in AI. He helped set up Google’s research into affective computing, a discipline dedicated to technologies that can understand emotions and has a Ph.D. in psychology.
In this episode, I sat down with Alan to understand the inner workings of Hume’s models. We get into:

Why traditional psychological theories of emotion fall short

The new approach to human emotion that Hume is developing

Methods the model uses to understand human emotion

How Hume's API enables developers to build empathetic voice interfaces

Applications of the model in customer service, gaming, and therapy

Why Hume is designed to optimize for human well-being instead of engagement

The ethical concerns around creating an AI that can interpret human emotions


This is a must-watch for anyone interested in the science of emotion and the future of human-AI interactions.
This episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about some of the bigger questions prompted by the rapid development of AI.
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Timestamps:

Dan tells Hume’s empathetic AI model a secret: 00:00:00

Introduction: 00:01:13

What traditional psychology tells us about emotions: 00:10:17

Alan’s radical approach to studying human emotion: 00:13:46 

Methods that Hume’s AI model uses to understand emotion: 00:16:46 

How the model accounts for individual differences: 00:21:08

Dan’s pet theory on why it’s been hard to make progress in psychology: 00:27:19

The ways in which Alan thinks Hume can be used: 00:38:12

How Alan is thinking about the API v. consumer product question: 00:41:22

Ethical concerns around developing AI that can interpret human emotion: 00:44:42


Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Alan Cowen: @AlanCowen

Hume: @hume_AI; hume.ai

If you want to demo Hume: demo.hume.ai

The nonprofit associated with Hume: Hume Initiative

Lisa Feldman Barrett’s book: How Emotions Are Made

The serial based on Paul Ekman’s theory of emotion: Lie to Me