How to Develop Empathy in the Developer Community

As Samsung continues to shape the future of technology, developers are presented with a unique opportunity to define how artificial intelligence (AI) operates within it via Bixby, Samsung’s intelligent voice assistant.

At Samsung Developer Conference 2018, a conversation between Marc Mathieu, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Electronics America, Dag Kittlaus, Viv Labs Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer and legendary filmmaker Spike Jonze explored the intersection between AI and humanity, as seen through the lens of Hollywood films such as Jonze’s Oscar-winning movie, “Her,” and its real-life application for the future of AI. Addressing an audience of developers, Mathieu recognized and emphasized Samsung’s core belief that developers have an important responsibility to ensure that empathy and humanity guide the advancements made in AI.

Here are the top 3 takeaways from their fireside chat:

1. Make an AI that fundamentally cares

“There are two things wrong with AI, first it’s artificial and the second is intelligence,” said Mathieu, referring to the nascent beginnings of AI innovation, and specifically calling out the potential for the developer community to achieve a certain level of an emotional intelligence within AI and develop an AI that is “human-first.”

The newest offerings with Bixby, such as Bixby Developer Studio – the collection of tools that provides an intuitive way for developers and partners to infuse intelligence into more services and devices – reflect Samsung’s commitment to building products that foster meaningful connections. “I really believe that AI should not just work, it needs to work for the people, for the human beings that we try to serve,” said Mathieu.

2. “Engagement is the metric” for whether or not AI will succeed

Mathieu challenged Kittlaus and Jonze to share their perspectives on two themes: “How to build care and a good conscience into AI in a tech development culture where iteration is key,” and “How AI developers can know they’re doing the right thing when it comes to balancing process and experience in their AI offerings and services.”

“Engagement is the metric,” said Kittlaus, explaining that the real test is whether or not skeptics will feel like they want to interact with the product.

“I want something that makes me feel more connected to the world,” said Jonze. “That should be the assignment.”

3. Look to your own emotions and vulnerability to inform what you’re making

“To be genuinely connected and intimate you have to reveal yourself,” said Jonze. This is the North Star for human-to-human interaction, and the same applies when coding AI.

When talking about building the Viv open AI platform – which gives third-party developers the power to use and build conversational assistants and integrate a natural language-based interface into renowned applications and services – Kittlaus reflected on the impact the AI had because it not only worked seamlessly, but employed wit and wry humor. “It’s not just about it being productive, but adding a little humanity into the AI turned it into a cultural phenomenon,” said Kittlaus.

“People in this room have the ability to steer that in a direction that makes us more connected and less isolated,” said Jonze, looking out at the audience of developers at the conference.

At the end of the day, all three on stage agreed, technology is about helping people. Products like Bixby are not just designed to be successful or humanistic – they are designed to make millions of people’s lives better and that kind of impact starts with developers. Developers must know not just what they are coding, but who they are coding for.

“We live in this time of immense change… It also brings a certain level of responsibility. That’s why we have this conversation in this room. We’re all developers, businesspeople, but we’re all human beings too,” said Mathieu.

It’s not technology versus humanity. As always, it’s technology and humanity.