MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How Emotion-Sensing Technology Can Reshape the Workplace

New emotion-sensing technologies can help employees make better decisions, improve concentration, and adopt healthier and more productive work styles. But companies must address important privacy issues.

As companies search for new ways to improve performance, some executives have begun paying attention to developments in emotion-sensing technologies (ESTs) and software fueled by artificial emotional intelligence. Although we are still in the early days, research shows that these technologies, which read such things as eye movements, facial expressions, and skin conductance, can help employees make better decisions, improve concentration, and alleviate stress. While important privacy issues need to be addressed, the opportunities are significant.

About the Author

Eoin Whelan (@eoin541) is a lecturer in business information systems at National University of Ireland in Galway, Ireland. Daniel McDuff (@danmcduff) is an AI researcher at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Washington. Rob Gleasure (@robgleasure) is a lecturer in business information systems at Cork University Business School in Cork, Ireland. Jan vom Brocke (@janvombrocke) is the Hilti Endowed Chair of Business Process Management and director of the University of Liechtenstein’s Institute of Information Systems in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

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