It’s 8:00 a.m. on a Monday, your coffee is still too hot and your virtual assistant says: ”Good morning! Looks like you woke up energized today – ready to start the week? ” Spoiler: No, machine. I’m not ready.

Emotional artificial intelligence is one of the most intriguing and, at the same time, frustrating fields of modern technology. From chatbots that try to sound empathetic to virtual assistants that insist on asking you how you’re feeling (when clearly they should already know it’s Monday and no one is happy), the big question is: are they really understanding us or are they just programmed to sound like they do?

AI that tries (and sometimes fails) to understand you

Talking to a machine is not new. From early attempts at natural language processing to today’s advanced models, AI has come a long way. But there is a big difference between answering questions and understanding emotions.

💬 Customer support chatbots
They are supposed to offer us quick answers, natural interaction and zero waiting time. In reality, many still repeat predefined phrases that solve nothing and make us shout “HUMAN! I NEED TO TALK TO A HUMAN!” before getting real help.

🗣️ Virtual assistants
They promise to know our habits, anticipate our needs and be almost like a digital friend. But if on a Monday they wish you “a day full of energy”, they clearly don’t know you well.

🎭 Emotional AI in human resources
It sounds great: analyzing emotions in video calls, assessing employee well-being and improving internal communication. But in practice, some feel that being constantly “analyzed” generates more pressure than well-being.

🎶 AI in entertainment and social networks
They say they personalize music, movie and content recommendations according to our mood. But you listened to a sad song just once and now your playlist is pure drama and heartbreak.

AI with real emotions? Not so fast

Despite advances, artificial intelligence doesn’t feel. What it does is analyze patterns in tone of voice, words and even facial expressions to predict how you might be feeling. There is no real empathy, just data and learning models trying to interpret human emotions.

And here the key question arises: do we really want AI to understand us or simply to help us more efficiently?

The benefits are undeniable: more natural chatbots, virtual assistants that learn from our habits and tools that can detect early signs of anxiety or depression. But there are also aspects that make us raise an eyebrow. Many assistants feign empathy without really understanding what we feel, which can make the interaction feel empty or frustrating. In the work environment, some systems already try to analyze our emotions during meetings or interviews, which inevitably reminds us of Black Mirror.

Moreover, when an AI collects data about our emotions, a legitimate concern arises: What happens to this information? Who uses it and for what purpose?

The challenge is not to make AI feel, but to make it more useful, more accurate and less invasive in the way it interacts with us.

Our role in this evolution

At SMS Sudamérica, we believe that artificial intelligence should not be a simple complement, but a strategic ally for companies. Therefore, we use AI agents that optimize times, improve the quality of our deliverables and offer more accurate solutions tailored to each need. This allows us to anticipate problems, make data-driven decisions and ensure a more agile and effective experience for our customers.

But we know that there is nothing worse than a generic answer. We said it before: when a chatbot responds with predefined phrases that don’t solve anything, all we want to do is shout “I want to talk to a human!”. At SMS Sudamérica, we believe in intelligent solutions, not empty answers.

That is why we do not apply AI as a standard model, but as a customized strategy. Each company faces unique challenges, with specific processes that cannot be solved with the same recipe. Instead of applying generic solutions, we perform a conscious and strategic analysis, thoroughly understanding the real pains of each organization to identify which AI agents can bring real value to their day-to-day operations.

Because artificial intelligence should not be a “copy and paste”. It should be a tool tailored to every need. And in that, we are experts.

From implementing functional chatbots to integrating virtual assistants that actually improve the user experience, our goal is clear: to make AI more useful, more natural and less frustrating.

Because at the end of the day, if your virtual assistant says, “Relax, today is Monday,” we know the only correct response is, “No, machine. No.”

Do you want to improve the interaction with AI in your company? Contact us. Let’s make technology work for you, not the other way around.

Note by: María Dovale Pérez