Practical capacities, empathy, and human-centered artificial intelligence

This chapter explores some conceptual connections between human-centered artificial intelligence (HCAI) research and empathic AI. First, I argue that HCAI is best understood as a framework that centers human well-being in AI development and deployment. Second, I argue a fruitful way to make the framework more precise is by focusing on human practical capacities. I use empathy as a case study, examining recent positive accounts of empathetic AI from the perspective of a well-being-focused HCAI. Finally, I note how this approach relates to recent calls for a sociotechnical perspective on AI.