Rosalind Picard

Cofounder, Empatica

Search every verified Rosalind Picard interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Rosalind Picard, a professor at MIT and cofounder of Empatica, delivered a keynote at the Civic AI Conference 2026 in July, where she discussed designing AI systems that support human wellbeing and avoid harm. She also spoke at a Templeton Foundation event in July 2026, exploring the concept of an "uncertainty engine" and how uncertainty can be generative in fields such as animation, medical technology, and games like Scrabble. In June 2026, she presented at an AI for mental health seminar, discussing the use of wearable sensors and smartphones to understand and treat depression, and highlighted challenges in interpreting physiological signals such as electrodermal activity. Picard has expressed concerns about the use of emotion recognition technology in places like China, stating that it has caused her to "pull back" on some research. She has advocated for regulations that give individuals ownership of their data and for extending existing lie detection restrictions to emotion recognition in employment contexts. She has also noted that the Nobel Prize for AlphaFold was awarded to the human researchers, not the AI itself, and has emphasized the importance of human curation and oversight in AI development.