Apple acquires a startup that can read your emotions using AI

Apple has joined the AI party.

The Cupertino giant confirmed Thursday that it has acquired Emotient Inc., a startup that says it can read human emotions using artificial intelligence.

The tech works by analyzing facial expressions and then using those expressions to interpret how people feel. Thus far, as The Wall Street Journal notes, the company has sold its product to advertisers who want reactions to ads.

On its website, Emotient describes itself as "the leader in emotion detection and sentiment analysis based on facial expressions," and that it believes it is "at the vanguard of a new wave of emotion analysis that will lead to a quantum leap in customer understanding and emotion-aware computing." Read more...