Professor Kuldar Taveter gives an inaugural lecture on emotionally intelligent and human values-respecting artificial intelligence

On Tuesday, 17 December, at 16:15, Professor in Information Systems Kuldar Taveter will deliver his inaugural lecture, “Towards emotionally intelligent and smart information systems” in the assembly hall of the University of Tartu.

Emotional intelligence means the ability to empathise and to express and manage one’s emotions adequately. According to the latest theories, emotions help people achieve their goals rather than hinder them. Emotions are closely related to human values because respecting or violating the latter triggers a strong reaction in the human mind.

Researchers have shown that the success of a product or service is determined by whether it is emotionally acceptable to people. “Therefore, when creating a digital product or service, emotional requirements should be taken into account to help ensure that the user feels informed, stress-free, engaged, motivated and safe,” said Taveter.

As artificial intelligence is being increasingly applied to information systems, it is also important, according to the professor, to design them based on people’s expectations and build systems that consider people’s emotions and values when interacting with the user. “For example, any user is likely to be upset if artificial intelligence treats them unfairly, does not respect their privacy, or if it is unclear what values its advice is based on,” Taveter explained. It is particularly important to follow these principles in well-being and health information systems, as these concern users personally.

The Research Group of Human-Centric Information Systems, led by Kuldar Taveter, is developing methods to create information systems that meet users’ requirements and assumptions and are aligned with human values, such as autonomy, equal treatment, sense of belonging and achievement, as emphasised by social scientists. The researchers collect and analyse data from stakeholder groups on their expectations in terms of both the emotional intelligence of information systems and the values mentioned above. In his inaugural lecture, Professor Taveter will present examples of emotional expectations and human values from the fields of health, well-being, e-governance services and educational computer games, highlighting their importance in intelligent information systems.

Taveter received his doctoral degree in computer science from Tallinn University of Technology in 2004. From 1997 to 2005, he also worked as a research scientist in information technology at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. After defending his doctoral thesis, he worked for three and a half years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia. For the next ten years, Taveter was a professor in software engineering in the Department of Informatics, Tallinn University of Technology.

Taveter has been a Fulbright scholar at the University of South Carolina, USA, and a visiting professor at the University of Malaysia, Sarawak. Over the last decade, he has led research teams in four EU and two Estonian projects. He currently heads the Chair of Software Engineering at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, and is the programme director of Conversion Master in IT. On 1 August 2019, Taveter started work as an associate professor at the University of Tartu and on 1 May 2024, he became Professor in Information Systems.

The inaugural lecture aims to give new professors an opportunity to introduce themselves and their field and topic of research. At the end of the public lecture, the audience is welcome to ask questions. Everyone interested is welcome. The event can be watched live on UTTV.