Through our interaction with machines, we develop emotional, human expectations of them. Alexa, for example, comes alive when we speak with it. Artificial Intelligence is and will be a representation of its cultural context, the values and ethics we apply to one another as humans. This machinery is eerily familiar as it mirrors us, and eventually becomes even smarter than us mere mortals. We’re programming its advantages based on how we see ourselves and the world around us, and we’re doing this at an incredible pace. This shift is pervading culture from our perceptions of beauty and aesthetics to how we interact with one another – and our AI. Infused with technology, we’re asking: what does it means to be human? Our report examines: • The evolution of our empathy from humans to animals and robots • How we treat AI in its infancy like we do a child, allowing it space to grow • The spectrum of our emotional comfort in a world embracing AI • The cultural contexts fueling AI biases, such as gender stereotypes, that drive the direction of AI • How we place an innate trust in machines, more than we do one another Methodology For this report, sparks & honey conducted US-focused research on the future of AI. Together with Heartbeat AI Technologies, we examined the emotional sentiment (feeling and emotions) around artificial intelligence in a Heartbeat AI Pulse Survey of 150 people in the US. Tapping into our Influencer Advisory Board and proprietary cultural intelligence system, we combed through thousands of signals to build a vision of the future of AI. We also interviewed leading experts in the field of artificial intelligence.