Emotion-AI Poised to Expand Mental Health Care, But Raises Ethical Questions
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Emotion-AI systems can assess, simulate, and interact with human emotions, with potential mental health applications like screening tools, enhanced therapy, and emotional support chatbots.
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However, emotion-AI raises ethical issues around consent, transparency, liability, data security, and risks of superficial empathy lacking human connection.
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The global emotion-AI market is projected to be worth $13.8 billion by 2032, with advancements in analyzing emotional cues through facial expressions, voice tones, and text.
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Risks include simplifying complex human emotions, emotional surveillance/exploitation, and the paradox of humanizing AI while potentially dehumanizing people.
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Emotion-AI needs careful, ethical integration into mental health care to complement (not substitute) human empathy and understanding.