From Emotion AI to Cognitive AI
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Cognitive computing is recognized as the next era of computing. In order to make hardware and software systems more human-like, emotion artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive AI which simulate human intelligence are the core of real AI. The current boom of sentiment analysis and affective computing in computer science gives rise to the rapid development of emotion AI. However, the research of cognitive AI has just started in the past few years. In this visionary paper, we briefly review the current development in emotion AI, introduce the concept of cognitive AI, and propose the envisioned future of cognitive AI, which intends to let computers think, reason, and make decisions in similar ways that humans do. The important aspect of cognitive AI in terms of engagement, regulation, decision making, and discovery are further discussed. Finally, we propose important directions for constructing future cognitive AI, including data and knowledge mining, multi-modal AI explainability, hybrid AI, and potential ethical challenges.
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The main goal of cognitive AI is to simulate human thought processes in a computerized model to learn, memorize, and respond to external changes.
“The main goal is to simulate the human thought processes in a computerized model to learn, memorize, and respond to external changes [24, 63].”
From CAIM: Development and Evaluation of a Cognitive AI Memory Framework for Long-Term Interaction with Intelligent Agents (2026) · cites this paper as [63]
Cognitive AI offers a promising path to address lack of context awareness by mimicking human cognitive processes to enhance reasoning and decision-making.
“Cognitive AI offers a promising path to address this by mimicking human cognitive processes to enhance reasoning and decision-making [50, 63].”
From CAIM: Development and Evaluation of a Cognitive AI Memory Framework for Long-Term Interaction with Intelligent Agents (2026) · cites this paper as [63]
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Influential
- Authors
- Zhao, G., Li, Y., & Xu, Q.
- Affiliations
- University of Oulu (FI)
- Venue
- International Journal of Network Dynamics and Intelligence
- Publisher
- Scilight Press Pty Ltd
- Published
- 2022-12-22
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 65-72
- ISSN
- 2653-6226 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4313325965
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 29
- FWCI
- 6.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Network Dynamics and Intelligence (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Academy of Finland (336116, 345122)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Psychiatry, Mental Health, Neuroscience
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Artificial Intelligence Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Cognitive Computing and Networks
- Keywords
- cognitive AI, affective computing, sentiment analysis, cognitive computing, AI decision-making, explainable AI, hybrid AI, knowledge mining, AI ethics
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