Episode 14

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Published on:

13th Feb 2022

Machines that Think and Feel with Michelle Zhou

I talk to Dr. Michelle Zhou Ph.D., CEO, and co-founder of Juji, a Silicon Valley company focused on creating next-generation cognitive AI with emotional intelligence. Basically, Michelle is working on making the talking, feeling AI that we've all seen in science fiction, a reality. Michelle talks about what it means for a bot to have high EQ, why humans get so attached to machines, and how people and machines can work together in ways that highlight their strengths!

Extended Background:

Dr. Michelle Zhou is a Co-Founder and CEO of Juji, Inc., an Artificial Intelligence  (AI) company located in Silicon Valley, specializing in building cognitive conversational AI technologies and solutions that enable the creation and adoption of empathic and empathetic AI agents. Prior to starting Juji, Michelle led the User Systems and Experience Research (USER) group at IBM Research – Almaden and then the IBM Watson Group. Michelle’s expertise is in the interdisciplinary area of intelligent user interaction (IUI), including conversational AI systems and personality analytics. She is an inventor of the IBM Watson Personality Insights and has led the research and development of at least a dozen products in her areas of expertise. Michelle has also published over 100 peer-reviewed, refereed scientific articles and 45+ patents. Michelle is currently the Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TiiS) and an Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST). She received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University and is an ACM Distinguished Scientist.

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About the Podcast

Idea Land
Smart People Talking about Smart Things. I Learn Something. You Learn Something. It's a win-win.
Join me, Ravi Komatireddy, as I tirelessly seek out the best ideas and the smartest people. Art, Science, Technology, Health, Society, Culture...no idea is off-limits. I learn something, you learn something. It's a win-win really.

About your host

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ravi komatireddy

Dr. Ravi Komatireddy MD is a physician and digital health entrepreneur who is currently the Founder and CEO of Motiv Health Inc, a startup passionately focused on using human and AI coaching for health behavior change.

He is an Internal Medicine physician who trained at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the University of California San Diego. He was one of the first wireless digital health scholars at the Scripps Translational Science Institute where he earned a masters in clinical translational investigation.

Previously, he co-founded and served as Chief Medical Officer of 2 funded digital health startups: Lumiata Inc., a big data, AI healthcare company focused on creating the world’s largest medical knowledge graph; and Reflexion Health Inc., a digital medicine, virtual physical therapy platform using motion tracking cameras in the home. He also received the first grant from NASA flight opportunities program to advance research in digital health and human spaceflight and continues to work with NASA on a COVID-19 Taskforce. He advises several Digital health startups and holds a volunteer faculty position at the University of California San Diego.

In general, he's intensely curious about the world and won't stop bothering people until they answer his questions.