AI companies want to harvest improv actors’ skills to train AI on human emotion
AI startup Handshake launched a program recruiting improv actors to generate training data for emotion models, starting in March 2024.
The move follows a surge in demand for nuanced affective AI in gaming and virtual assistants. Handshake, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, aims to fill gaps left by synthetic datasets.
By sourcing human performers, Handshake seeks to inject higher fidelity emotion into models, raising the bar for AI empathy. However, the reliance on paid actors raises questions about labor practices and data ownership. If successful, it could prompt other firms to adopt similar human-in-the-loop pipelines.
The initiative will affect improv communities, offering new revenue streams, while AI developers may see improved emotional realism. Watch for licensing agreements and how the data is integrated into products like OpenAI's GPT-4o or Meta's BlenderBot.
- Improv actors now train AI, boosting emotional realism.
- Handshake's paid gigs could reshape gig economy for performers.
- Watch for data-ownership disputes as models grow more human.