Artificial intelligence really understands us (or seems to)

We find ourselves thanking a voice assistant or saying “sorry” to a robot, and often it doesn't seem strange at all. Today's machines can recognise our voices and emotions and even respond with empathy. But while they can help, listen and comfort us, they also risk making us forget the complexity – and beauty – of real human relationships. 'Artificial empathy' is the new frontier in relations between people and technology: a delicate balance between innovation and awareness, between the need for connection and the danger of illusion.

Massimo Canducci is Innovation & Strategy Director at Spindox. A manager, technologist and essayist, he is a member of the Global Faculty at Singularity University. A keynote speaker at national and international conferences, he is a professor at the Executive MBA Ticinensis and teaches Innovation Management at the University of Turin. He is also a member of the Advisory Group “Standardisation for Emerging Technologies and Innovations”. He is the author of “Artificial Empathy: How we will fall in love with machines and why we will not be loved in return” (Egea 2025).