Emotions are a fundamental part of human psychology—a complex process that has long distinguished us from machines. Even advanced artificial intelligence (AI) lacks the capacity to feel. However, researchers are now exploring whether the formation of emotions can be computationally modeled, providing machines with a deeper, more human-like understanding of emotional states.

In this vein, Assistant Professor Chie Hieida from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Japan, in collaboration with Assistant Professor Kazuki Miyazawa and then-master’s student Kazuki Tsurumaki from Osaka University, Japan, explore computational approaches to model the formation of emotions.

The team built a computational model that aims to explain how humans may form the concept of emotion. The study was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing.