Now that technology is finally getting emotion-savvy, could the machines give us the benefit of their new-found wisdom? Rosalind Picard thinks so

“People are manipulated emotionally all the time, by fake news, by friends, advertisers, teachers…” Photographed for New Scientist by Ken Richardson

WHEN Rosalind Picard announced to the world that computers needed to understand emotion, many scoffed. But her book, Affective Computing, published 20 years ago, seeded a new field. It’s now clear that computers will serve us better if we can help them understand what matters to us – using changes in our physiology, movement, facial expression and tone of voice to discern our emotions.

Affective computing is enjoying quite a few real-world applications. What kinds of ideas are you working …