As the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly expands and AI solutions are being proposed across nearly every industry, AI applications still lack the ability to understand and respond to user individuality.
Dr Achini Adikari hopes to address this gap, and revolutionise how AI interacts with users, by integrating emotional awareness into AI applications.
“A key aspect of my work involves incorporating emotions and Theory of Mind concepts into computer applications to create more effective, empathetic and human-centred Al solutions,” she says.
Dr Adikari has already made significant strides in this work and has developed computational models capable of identifying users’ emotions through written text.
“These models use Natural Language Processing and Al techniques to analyse and interpret emotional cues, which can provide valuable insights into user sentiments,” explains Dr Adikari.
“They have been applied across a range of different sectors including healthcare, chatbots, tourism, public opinion analysis and education.”
“In digital healthcare, emotion recognition through AI applications have been used to identify patients' emotions through written text and facial expressions.”
Having significantly advanced the human-centeredness of AI applications, Dr Adikari now plans to further enhance AI for good.
“My future research will focus on advancing the democratisation of AI and aligning its use with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the benefit of all.”
