Abstract

Empathy is no longer the preserve of humans. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes ubiquitous in consumers’ daily lives, they tend to favor AI that can read, understand, and resonate with their emotions. To broaden the understanding of how consumers perceive AI, this research explores the relationship between emotional valence and the perception of AI’s empathy, specifically in the context of music streaming services. The results of three experiments demonstrate two important findings. First, consumers believe that an AI music curator is less able to empathize with listeners’ negative emotions than positive ones. Second, due to this biased belief, they prefer AI-curated playlists made for negative mood less than those made for positive mood. These results provide insights into how to design and complement empathetic AI, particularly in the domains where sensitivity to users’ emotions is vital.