Sunday Brain Mix: AI and Emotional Intelligence, Reading and Loneliness, Mathematics to Change Behaviour, and Getting Angry with New Policies is Short Lived

Last week’s Sunday Mix was on on various AI themes and I will also start this week with AI and its surprisingly good Emotional Intelligence abilities which we probably would all have thought was reserved for human beings, before moving on to empathy, loneliness and reading (and how this boost brain function), to parenting, changing behaviour, and how we get angry with new policies - until we don’t.

---

AI Beats Humans on Emotional Intelligence Tests

Surely Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a domain that is unmatched in human beings compared to AI. I am sure many of you emotionally intelligent readers would agree. But, sorry to say, yet again, it appears that AI can also beat us here also!

This may sound surprising, I indeed, was surprised, but this is what Katja Schlegel et al. of the University of Bern here in Switzerland found.

They put six generative AI models such as ChatGPT through their paces on standard EI tests. And the outcome was that the AIs outperformed us human beings scoring on average 84% compared to average score of 56% for us mere human beings.

However, you may find that the average score of human beings is low - surely us human beings should score higher than 56%. Maybe that suggests that the tests are not well-designed - but then again the researchers also set these AIs with the task of generating new tests and found they matched quality of standard EI tests!

This suggests we can indeed us AI in contexts that require emotional intelligence and that we may have not thought of previously - obviously these will need to be monitored because as I reported last week, we know AI can also feel supremely confident even when spouting rubbish.

We also know that this level of EI is limited as I also reported on previously - AI is limited when trying to “read the room” and predict what is happening in photos such as of social interactions.

This may lead us consider that we should improve our own emotional intelligence - something that comes up with executives I coach and train regularly. Well some research shows one simple method.

Read.

---

Reading Fiction Boost Empathy and Fights Loneliness

In an article on Conversation researchers Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian and Christelle Langley outline the research and many benefits of reading fiction and shows that smartphones are not the solution to everything.