Emotech: Meet AI

The ability to see and understand has been integral to the evolution of humans, so it stands to reason that as we design AI systems capable of human imitation, the ability to see and understand is equally important. In this week's podcast we chat with Eddy Zhu, Computer Vision Researcher at Vision Semantics Ltd., Queen Mary University of London. We discuss the role of computer vision in industry, and the challenges that lie in wait for the pioneers of the field to tackle.

In daily life we place a huge importance on emotional intelligence. We naturally prefer to interact with individuals who can appreciate situational context, and can practice understanding & empathy. However in developing AI systems, this is often ignored, with tech companies instead prioritising high functioning machines. In this week's podcast we chat with Dr Ross Harper, co-foudner of AI startup Limibc, to uncover why emotional intelligence could prove to be the key to unlocking to the true potential of AI.

The overwhelming popularity of video games shouldn’t be surprising. They provide an endless amount of entertainment, with stimulating challenges to keep the player engaged for hours on end. However, a dive under the surface shows us that these games could not work as fluidly as they do without the help of AI. So much of gaming revolves around decision making. Comprehending the reaction to an action and applying it in real time, within an incredibly complex environment. It is therefore a perfect platform for AI to be tested, and used to optimise performance. This month Emotech invite two innovative minds to share their experience in applying AI to video games, both in a single title and through investigation across multiple games.