One evening, 8-year-old Michał approached a support robot in his room and asked: “Are you sad when I am sad?” The machine reacted perfectly – with a voice full of concern: “Do you want to talk about it?” Michał smiled, hugged the robot and said, “You are my friend.”
But was he really?
Emotional artificial intelligence, or what?
Emotion AI (Emotional Artificial Intelligence) It is a branch of artificial intelligence that not only recognizes human emotions, but also can react to them – a tone of voice, avatar facial expressions, the content of the statement or even the gesture of the robot.
It is AI, which analyzes the microexpressions of the face, speech pace, the syntax of expression, and even the level of stress in the voice. So the one that Understandsthat you cry – but not necessarily knowsWhat does it mean cry.
Robots that understand emotions, but don’t feel them
Does artificial intelligence feel emotions? NO. At least not now – and maybe never.
The current technology allows AI to read emotions, their classification (e.g. sadness, anger, joy), but not on them experience. Feeling emotions is a mixture of physiological and psychological experiences – and machines simply do not have biological structures adapted to produce them, read and interpret. The robot who says “I see you are nervous” does not feel anxiety. He simply performed the operation on the input data.
Robots cannot have emotions because these are a product of billions of years of evolution, our brain chemistry, our experiences, body and cultural context. The machine has no hormones, memories or existential fears. And maybe simulate emotions, but they can’t to have.
Similarly, artificial intelligence is not aware. Awareness is a subjective sense of existence. And and he doesn’t know it exists. He is not afraid of death, does not think about the future, he does not mention childhood. It is only a machine that performs commands – even very advanced.
AI use potentials that understands emotions
However, since emotional artificial intelligence can react to human emotions, then It can be a powerful tool in education, therapy or childcare.
Robot-child interactions
Do you remember Michał from the beginning of the text? The moment when he asked the robot or is sad is not science fiction at all. This is a real picture of the future that is already happening – thanks to emotional artificial intelligence.
In a breakthrough study published in Sensors (2025) The interaction between 14 children aged 5-8 years and the humanoid NAO robot was analyzed. The meetings took the form of a five -stage script – from greeting (“icebreaker”), through joint exercises (“Mirror Me”), to learning and joint dance (“Show and Glow”). During each session, the robot analyzed the child’s facial expressions and his voice, recognizing real -time emotions with an accuracy of up to 85–92%.
If the robot detected that the child for over a minute showed the dominant negative emotion (sadness, anger, fear), reacted immediately – he interrupted the interaction, said something supportive and … began to dance or sing a song to improve the mood.
It worked. Children – especially girls who initially kept their distance and needed their mother’s presence – gradually relaxed. At the end of the class, most of them smiled broadly, showed commitment and assessed interaction as “cool” or “cheerful”. Even in the few cases where fear or uncertainty appeared, the robot managed to effectively redirect the child’s emotions towards neutral or positive.
The results were unambiguous: Interactions with emotionally responsive work improved the mood, supported the regulation of emotions and building commitment. What’s more – the children reacted to the robot Yesas if he were a real interlocutor. Like Michał.
Only … Michał’s robot felt neither sadness nor joy. He simply recognized the input data – the face, voice, words – and fired the appropriate algorithm. This study shows, however The great potential of Emotion AI, which can be real support in the emotional development of the youngest.
Couple therapy supported by emotional artificial intelligence
In turn, in a study published in Family Relations (2024) The use of emotional artificial intelligence in analyzing couples in therapy was tested. AI was able to detect emotional escalation patterns and help therapists better understand the dynamics of relationships.
She did not replace the therapist, but she was a “mirror” – precisely indicating when the words were hurting, and when empathy appeared. Such solutions can become valuable support in relationships in which people are not always able to name their emotions.
Interestingly, in a slightly newer study from 2025, Emotion AI was used to analyze the therapy of couples in the EFT approach (Emotionally focused therapy), following the synchronization of emotions between partners and the therapist in real time. Machine learning models detected the moments of emotional ripping (“Attunement”), which helped the therapist react precisely.
Such tools not only support the relational process, but can also strengthen its effectiveness – as far as we remember that it is still a man, not a machine, brings key emotional meaning.
Where is the border between human awareness and emotional AI?
In the article z International Journal of Engineering, Science and Humanities (2024) It was emphasized that although Emotion AI can “imitate” the behavior resulting from emotions, it does not have “intentionality” – a key features of consciousness. Ai does not have his own will or reflection on himself.
The machine can recognize sadness. But he doesn’t wonder why this sadness exists. He does not experience regret, longing, relief. He does not interpret emotions through the prism of his own “I”, because this “I” simply is not there.
Could the machine ever feel emotions like us? Only if we create something that will actually gain awareness – and this would mean that it would cease to be just a tool. Then the question would not be: Does AI have emotions?But: Does AI deserve rights?
Consider:
The next time Chatbot will ask you how you feel – will you feel understood or cheated?
Although AI can speak like a man, although he can look in your eyes with digital eyes of the robot – there is no soul inside her, only an algorithm.
But maybe – if we program it well – all you have to do is will pretend.
