Timeline of Affective Computing

  • The Enlightenment

    The Enlightenment
    Philosophers such as Descartes, Hobbes, and Leibniz studied the concept of rational thought, reason over superstition and science over blind faith. Looked into systemic processes such as math to further explore universal language (Yonke, p.36). This is one of the earlier inspirations for artificial intelligence since it would use universal languages like binary code and pattern recognition.
  • World War 2

    World War 2
    Strides made in code breaking that would become the field of computer science. Scientists like Alan Turing worked to decode messages of war with theories that would set the stage for machine intelligence, specifically augmented human intelligence (Yonke, pgs. 36-37). Computer science and theory were imperative for the study and creation of artificial human intelligence.
  • Metcalfe’s Law: https://youtu.be/pPXCuf7xLsM

    Metcalfe’s Law: https://youtu.be/pPXCuf7xLsM
    Metcalfe’s Law explains that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (Yonke, p.40). This law is not only crucial to explain Moore’s law of computer transistors, but is fundamental to how technology advances. This law of exponential growth is not only seen in technology, but is a fundamental aspect of human biology as well. Explains the concept of “network effect” to show both value and competitive advantage in technology.
  • Affective Computing by Rosalind Picard

    Affective Computing by Rosalind Picard
    The work that Rosalind Picard was doing to create technology that can recognize human emotion was compiled and termed “affective computing”. This study of human emotions and how to program them for computers to recognize them was the pinnacle turning point where we started to see artificial intelligence begin to do what humans could: read and understand emotions (Yonke, p.47).
  • The Iraq War

    The Iraq War
    Since World War 2, the military has stepped up their game in the field of technology. They have developed robots that can do tasks more efficiently and accurately than humans. This has cut down on the number of human lives lost and increased the success of intricate missions (Yonke, p.79). This shows how humans are beginning to like and rely on robots, as well as how we sometimes view these robots with human characteristics.
  • Digital Personal Assistants

    Digital Personal Assistants
    We have so many different technologies that can read our physiological, emotional, and mental state that I don’t see why we wouldn’t each have our own digital assistant that reads that information and then creates our days based around that. I envision that we will never have to make our own decisions again, we will rely on these digital assistants that know us better than we know ourselves.
  • Robots

    Robots
    I know we already have robots, but after learning about different aspects of technology and what we have already created but not brought into the general public, I think robots are going to be more advanced than what we think. The example I am thinking of is, after watching the transhumanism TedTalk, we will be able to transplant our thoughts into robots. In short, I believe that we could have robot copies of ourselves that react and think the same way we do.