Many people choose to talk to AI when they are bored because their lover doesn't understand - Photo: AI
According to research published in the journal Communications Psychology on May 21, scientists at the University of Geneva and the University of Bern (Switzerland) showed that artificial intelligence AI can handle emotional situations better than humans.
In the experiment, the team of scientists gave popular AI models today such as ChatGPT-4, Gemini 1.5, Claude 3.5 Haiku and several other major language systems an emotional intelligence test according to international standards.
The results of the study surprised many people: AI models like ChatGPT not only understood human emotions through text, but also responded more appropriately than we do in many situations. In tests simulating emotionally stressful situations, which many lovers might misunderstand, the AI showed superior "subtlety".
This has led many experts to wonder: is it possible that, in some ways, AI is beginning to "understand people's hearts" better than even their closest relatives?
AI is good at "solving" emotional problems, but does it really understand?
The results of the study showed that the AI chose the appropriate emotional response in 81% of the situations, while humans only achieved about 56%. However, the tests the team used were multiple choice, and the emotions were simulated in text, not real-life situations. This has led many experts in the field to say that caution is needed when interpreting the results.
“AI is good at pattern recognition, especially when emotional signals follow clear structures like language or facial expressions. But calling it emotional understanding might be an overstatement,” says tech expert Nauman Jaffar.
Artificial intelligence has made incredible strides in recognizing and responding to human emotions - Photo: AI
Taimur Ijlal, an information security expert, added that even among humans, emotional assessments are not completely consistent. “Doing well on a test does not mean that AI has better emotional intuition.”
Still, there’s no denying that AI is getting closer to recognizing emotions in real-world interactions. A prime example is the virtual assistant Aílton, which is used by more than 6,000 truck drivers in Brazil.
Aílton can recognize anxious, sad, or angry voices with about 80% accuracy, much higher than human experts. In one particular case, after receiving a short voice message from a driver who had just witnessed a serious accident, Aílton immediately sent condolences, introduced psychological support services, and automatically notified management.
“We’re not saying that AI has human-like empathy,” said lead engineer Marcos Alves. “But it can pick up on emotional cues that many people miss, thanks to learning from billions of lines of dialogue.”
Another interesting point is that when asked to create new questions for emotional tests, ChatGPT created a set of questions that were of equal quality to the original, confirmed by independent reviewers to be reasonable, non-repetitive, and of similar difficulty.
Still, researchers stress that current AI works best in environments that are well-structured and free of noise, while real-life human emotions are complex and highly situational.
The Future: AI and “scalable empathy”
Although artificial intelligence has made incredible strides in recognizing and responding to human emotions, experts still assert that AI cannot completely replace the empathy, intuition, and emotional depth inherent in humans.
However, AI shows great potential in assisting humans in many areas related to emotions and psychology.
One notable application is in the mental health industry, where AI can act as a listening ear, respond quickly, and make appropriate suggestions when users experience stress or depression.
AI can also assist medical staff or psychologists in detecting early signs of mental instability from a patient's daily communication.
In addition, in the corporate environment, artificial intelligence can help managers monitor and adjust the working atmosphere, thereby contributing to improving performance and team spirit. With customers, AI is increasingly demonstrating its ability to handle situations flexibly and thoroughly, helping businesses respond to customers not only quickly but also more humanely.
What makes the difference is the concept of “scalable empathy” that AI brings. While humans are limited by time, energy, and personal emotions, AI systems can sustain attention and respond appropriately to thousands of users at once, tirelessly and without bias. This is something that humans find difficult to do, especially in high-interaction environments like online customer service or healthcare call centers.
"AI cannot become a real therapist, but it can absolutely be an effective emotional assistant, if used properly and with clear direction," said Mr. Wyatt Mayham, founder of Northwest IT Consulting.
MINH HAI
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ai-hieu-cam-xuc-cua-ban-hon-ca-nguoi-yeu-20250624092153846.htm
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