The Feeling Economy. How Artificial Intelligence Is Creating the Era of Empathy
We have seen that artificial intelligence (AI) is in the process of ushering in a new era that will have profound implications for how humans work and live. The emerging “Feeling Economy” is one in which AI assumes many of the mechanical and thinking tasks, leaving humans to emphasize feeling. Just as many people’s lives were transformed in the 1900s by the industrial revolution and automation, people’s lives are now again being transformed.
The transformation in the last century was from physical and mechanical tasks to thinking tasks. In the twenty-first century, the transformation is from thinking tasks to feeling tasks. Artificial intelligence is developing in the order of (a) mechanical, to (b) thinking, to (c) feeling. Mechanical AI is easiest, and is mostly accomplished already. Thinking intelligence is next easiest, and is an area of strong current innovation. Feeling intelligence is the hardest for AI, and competence in that is probably decades away.
The main thesis of this book is: As AI assumes more thinking tasks, humans will emphasize feeling. Our research, both theoretical and empirical, provides initial support for this thesis.
