Empathy in Silicon: Giving Voice to Feeling through Generative AI by Björn Schuller

Join us on 6th June at 14:00 at the Institute of Digital Games, as Prof. Björn Schuller takes us on a journey to the heart of affective Generative AI — where emotion meets imagination, and science meets soul.

Building Emotionally Aware Machines

As artificial intelligence evolves from pattern recognition to creative generation, a profound question emerges: Can machines truly understand how we feel? This talk explores the frontier of affective computing in the age of Generative AI, where large language models, voice synthesis, and multimodal systems begin to emulate — and potentially resonate with — human emotion. The talk will guide through the scientific, technological, and ethical dimensions of building emotionally aware machines. Drawing from decades of research in emotion recognition, speech processing, and machine learning, it illustrates how generative systems can be designed not only to mimic empathy, but to serve as partners in emotional communication and mental health support. From synthetic voices that convey compassion to chatbots that recognise distress, this talk highlights breakthroughs that bring us closer to machines that do not just compute but care. Yet, as we give voice to feeling through silicon, we must also confront its limits, biases, and the risks of emotional illusion. What does it mean to build an empathetic machine? And how do we ensure that these new emotional agents serve humanity with integrity, transparency, and trust? Join, as we journey to the heart of affective Generative AI — where emotion meets imagination, and science meets soul.

Attendance to the talk is free, but space is limited, so please register here to make sure you will be able to attend. You will also be able to register on the day itself.

About Prof. Björn W. Schuller

Björn W. Schuller is a distinguished academic and researcher with extensive expertise in Machine Intelligence and Signal Processing. He earned his diploma, doctoral degree, habilitation, and Adjunct Teaching Professor title in EE/IT from TUM in Munich, where he currently holds a Full Professorship and chairs Health Informatics. Additionally, he is a Full Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Head of GLAM at Imperial College London. Schuller further co-founded audEERING, an Audio Intelligence company and has held multiple prestigious professorships globally. Schuller is a Fellow of several prominent societies, including the ACM, IEEE, AAAC, BCS, ELLIS, and ISCA. With over 1,500 publications, more than 70,000 citations, and an h-index of 120, he is highly influential in the field of Computer Science. He has held editorial positions, including Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Digital Health and Editor in Chief of AI Open and the IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing. Schuller has received over 50 awards, including being named one of 40 extraordinary scientists under 40 by the WEF in 2015. Currently, he is an ACM Distinguished Speaker (2024-2027) and an IEEE Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecturer (2024). His work has been widely recognized in the media, with over 300 public press appearances and contributions to various international outlets.

Want to learn from the best in game AI?

It is a great pleasure to host Prof. Björn W. Schuller as one of the most influential scholars in Computer Science, and specifically affective computing. The Institute is at the forefront of game AI research, ranking in the top 10 (only slightly behind Google) in game research excellence. For those interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D in Digital Games) it provides an excellent opportunity to combine Artificial Intelligence with games in a dynamic environment where courses are taught by people intensely involved in research and innovating game AI. If you want to stay up to date with the Institute’s research and events, you can subscribe to the Newsletter.