Emotional Recognition - The ATS of the interview

We know that "robots" and AI read our resumes, will they be reading our expressions at interview next?

Imagine a job interview where you confront not just a panel of interviewers, but an electronic “eye” linked to a computer. Based on tiny movements in your face and eyes and variations in your tone of voice as you answer questions, the computer uses artificial intelligence to assess your emotional responses — and draw conclusions about you.

Are you reliable?

Do you really want the job?

Does that micro-clenching of the jaw when asked about your biggest failure show you have something to hide?

Far from being a disconcerting vision of the future, this is already happening. Various companies are developing or marketing “emotion recognition” technology for recruitment; some businesses have deployed it. As the Financial Times highlighted this week, “emotional AI” is being used in sectors ranging from advertising to gaming to insurance, as well as law enforcement and security. It holds out the prospect of using facial clues to figure out what to sell people and how they respond to adverts; to check whether drivers or schoolchildren — or those working from home — are paying attention; or to spot people who are acting suspiciously.

History is littered with dark predictions about new technologies that proved overly alarmist. Yet as with facial recognition, to which emotional AI is closely related, there are reasons for particular caution. The science of matching an image of a face against a database through its physical characteristics is broadly sound. Even then, however, systems sometimes misidentify women or non-white faces — leading to risks of discrimination, for example, when used by law enforcement.

Critics charge that the underlying assumptions of emotion recognition — that humans experience a universal set of emotions and manifest them in similar ways — are deeply flawed, and ignore differences between cultures and even individuals. Research in 2019 pointed to the variety of meanings behind, say, a raised eyebrow. If facial responses that are particularly prevalent in some cultures are deemed to be a sign of lying or nervousness, this may end up supporting inaccurate stereotypes. Trials have suggested AI systems are far from perfect at discerning whether humans are telling the truth. Yet the technology has potentially beneficial uses — for example, in helping people with autism to read emotions from facial clues.

The European Commission has proposed a partial ban on the use by law enforcement of remote biometric surveillance technologies, such as facial recognition, in public places — though human rights groups have warned of loopholes and the EU’s own privacy watchdog has said it should have imposed a full ban in public places. That may be going too far. But there is a strong argument for a temporary moratorium on emotional AI. That would allow time to determine whether the science behind it is sound, in what settings and applications it is suitable to be used, and how best to regulate it.

Even if emotion recognition is eventually permitted in some public spaces, the public should be informed when it is operating. Where it is used in situations involving individuals, it should be with their consent, and with a right to opt out. And when it comes to decisions on, say, hiring or performance, emotional AI should never supplant but only help to inform human judgment. If it can be made to function in a reliable and trusted manner, emotion recognition offers at its best a way to humanise technology and to help businesses to understand customers far more deeply.

At worst, it could be an invasive tool of surveillance capitalism. The right balance must be found.

This article originally published in The Financial Times and shared by Mark Daniel an international resume writer and career coach, sharing articles, advice and information that he thinks will be of interest. He also tries to give advice to his wife but usually fails, so hopefully the above is more useful to you than it is to her.

Mark can be contacted via www.reallifecareeradvice.com or by email mark@reallifecareeradvice.com and if you want a free detailed personal video review of your resume the flick it over or follow this link