Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In the bestselling tradition of Lab Girl, the unforgettable narrative of an Egpytian-American technology pioneer who, after getting her Ph.D in computer science from Cambridge University, founded Affectiva, a leader in the new field of Emotion AI, to build emotional intelligence into our computers and transform how we communicate. Ninety-three percent of meaningful communication between people is nonverbal. We glean more information from facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language than we do with language alone. Yet the computers we use every day to communicate with colleagues, clients, and friends are emotionally blind when it comes to recognizing and adapting to our feelings and emotions. With so much of our lives spent interacting with technology, our emotions can get lost. And as a result, our society, Rana el Kaliouby claims, has become less empathetic.
In a captivating narrative into the research and developments of Emotion AI, el Kaliouby shows that we are only scratching the surface of our computers' full potential, something she experienced firsthand when she moved to Cambridge from Cairo to pursue her Ph.D., and tried to maintain her relationships at home via email and messenging. It was that experience that helped to drive her research in bringing emotional intelligence to our machines. Girl Decoded brings together el Kaliouby's personal story as a Muslim woman in a coding universe dominated by men, with her pioneering efforts to bring the new universe of Emotion AI into our lives, through her company's work in the automotive industry, health and wellness, and robotics.
Synopsis
An Egyptian-American visionary and scientist provides an intimate view of her personal transformation as she follows her calling--to humanize our technology and how we connect with one another. The majority of our communication is conveyed through non-verbal cues: facial expressions, tone of voice, body language. But these types of communication--and our ability to recognize unspoken emotions--are lost when we interact with colleagues, friends, and family through our smartphones and other devices. The result is a digital universe that's emotion-blind and a society lacking in empathy. If we lose our ability to identify with others, we risk undermining the very traits that make us human in the first place.
To combat this "empathy crisis," Rana el Kaliouby founded Affectiva, the pioneer of the new field of Emotion AI. She builds emotional intelligence into our technology, developing systems that understand humans the way we understand one another. A computer scientist and Cambridge Ph.D., and divorced single mother of two young children, el Kaliouby is a rarity in both the tech world and her native Middle East: a Muslim leader and CEO, a woman in charge in a field that is still overwhelmingly white and male. A captivating memoir, Girl Decoded chronicles el Kaliouby's journey from an obedient "nice Egyptian girl" to a woman carving her own path as she revolutionizes technology--and our world. But decoding herself--learning to express and act on her own emotions--would prove to be the biggest challenge of all.
Synopsis
In a captivating memoir, an Egyptian American visionary and scientist provides an intimate view of her personal transformation as she follows her calling--to humanize our technology and how we connect with one another. Rana el Kaliouby is a rarity in both the tech world and her native Middle East: a Muslim woman in charge in a field that is still overwhelmingly white and male. Growing up in Egypt and Kuwait, el Kaliouby was raised by a strict father who valued tradition--yet also had high expectations for his daughters--and a mother who was one of the first female computer programmers in the Middle East. Even before el Kaliouby broke ground as a scientist, she broke the rules of what it meant to be an obedient daughter and, later, an obedient wife to pursue her own daring dream.
After earning her PhD at Cambridge, el Kaliouby, now the divorced mother of two, moved to America to pursue her mission to humanize technology before it dehumanizes us. The majority of our communication is conveyed through nonverbal cues: facial expressions, tone of voice, body language. But that communication is lost when we interact with others through our smartphones and devices. The result is an emotion-blind digital universe that impairs the very intelligence and capabilities--including empathy--that distinguish human beings from our machines.
To combat our fundamental loss of emotional intelligence online, she cofounded Affectiva, the pioneer in the new field of Emotion AI, allowing our technology to understand humans the way we understand one another. Girl Decoded chronicles el Kaliouby's journey from being a "nice Egyptian girl" to becoming a woman, carving her own path as she revolutionizes technology. But decoding herself--learning to express and act on her own emotions--would prove to be the biggest challenge of all.