Sophia, the robot with citizenship is now being enhanced to have the capability to read emotions in others and to emulate them. Thanks to Hanson robotics through its’ artificial intelligence research and implementation, you may find Sophia harboring feelings of anger or happiness for you or for herself. Hmmm, this is way too human and my immediate reaction is fear. The question I asked myself is,” What makes me different if AI can have feelings as well”?

I pondered about this but the next thought and question I ask myself is scarier. While our counterpart AI is trying their best to have and mirror emotions, aren’t we humans trying to be more robotic? Devoid of emotions so that we feel too little, react so little and dare not tread on real-life conversations dealing with how one feels, but conversations if done right and with care can give the most satisfaction out of life!

This is where vulnerability, looked upon as a weakness becomes our strength. But, yes there is a big but, that is if self-awareness is present. This was a big eye-opener for me.

You see, when you are aware of your vulnerability, they become your strengths. Self-awareness should lead to reflection and aspiration to conquer these. An example is if you are vulnerable enough to have self-reflection that you are anxious over something and is causing you to think, decide and act irrationally, then by being aware of these, you should be able to know what to do. Anxiety should lead you to positive action, not the other way.

The scarier part is not being vulnerable to so-called “negative feelings” and not being aware of it. As Brene Brown has said,” When emotion and cognition are undefined and unexplained, they drive every decision and action we make (consciously or unconsciously). We either develop self-awareness or these things will control you!”

At the end of the day, after much thought, my trek to vulnerability over AI taking over the world, my world for this generation of humans and the next led me to self-awareness. No way can AI claim to know how I truly feel. We build emotions, they are not built-in and if AI cannot read between the lines, or where one is coming from or the context of why one feels that way, then AI stays on your road to the cognitive because this is one lady whose affective you will not affect!

If you are interested to know more about EMOVATION, Inc. and their adaptive Emotional Intelligence assessments and programs, contact us through email at care@emovation.ph or call us at the following numbers: (02) 8 635 0016 loc. 124 / (+63) 917 582 2402.