Empathy in Virtual Agents and Robots

TLDR

Empathic agents are defined as those that can place themselves into a user’s or another agent’s emotional situation and respond appropriately. The article surveys computational empathy, reviewing how artificial agents can simulate or trigger empathy, presenting current research, and outlining future challenges. The survey examines how artificial agents can simulate or trigger empathy, how their design can elicit emotional responses from users, and how these mechanisms align with human empathy principles.

Abstract

This article surveys the area of computational empathy, analysing different ways by which artificial agents can simulate and trigger empathy in their interactions with humans. Empathic agents can be seen as agents that have the capacity to place themselves into the position of a user’s or another agent’s emotional situation and respond appropriately. We also survey artificial agents that, by their design and behaviour, can lead users to respond emotionally as if they were experiencing the agent’s situation. In the course of this survey, we present the research conducted to date on empathic agents in light of the principles and mechanisms of empathy found in humans. We end by discussing some of the main challenges that this exciting area will be facing in the future.