Engineering Emotionally Intelligent Agents

Abstract

Interacting with intelligence in an ever-changing environment calls for exceptional performances from artificial beings. One mechanism explored to produce intuitive-like behavior in artificial intelligence applications is emotion. This chapter examines the engineering of a mechanism that synthesizes and processes an artificial agent’s internal emotional states: the Affective Space. Through use of the affective space, an agent can predict the effect certain behaviors will have on its emotional state and, in turn, decide how to behave. Furthermore, an agent can use the emotions produced from its behavior to update its beliefs about particular entities and events. This chapter explores the psychological theory used to structure the affective space, the way in which the strength of emotional states can be diminished over time, how emotions influence an agent’s perception, and the way in which an agent can migrate from one emotional state to another.