When you think of robots, the first thing that springs to mind is probably not a conversation partner who reads your emotions and responds empathically. However, Pascale Fung, Professor in the Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, believes empathy will be highly essential in robots when they become part of our daily life. According to her, an empathy module will make the contact more natural and ensure that robots take care of humans.

In the Mind of the Universe documentary series, Pascale Fung was interviewed about the role of robots in our lives. In the video excerpt below, she introduces her theory on empathy. Click here to watch the full interview.

After watching the video fragment, fill in the poll: Do you think robots should be programmed to be empathic? And then, please, elaborate on your answer in the discussion.

In the image on the right, Pascale Fung and Virginia Dignum met at a recent hearing of the European Committee where a European Union Strategy for Artificial Intelligence was discussed.

If you would like to join the MOOD discussion on this topic after working through the resources, click here.