Girl Decoded: My Quest to Make Technology Emotionally Intelligent – and Change the Way We Interact Forever by Rana el Kaliouby

Rana el Kaliouby’s Girl Decoded is part memoir, part manifesto, and altogether an inspiring journey of how a woman is using technology to revolutionize the way we interact with each other.

As a child, Rana was fascinated by computers, and she later found her true passion when she began building technologies that could read and understand emotions. After getting her PhD from Cambridge University in computer and affective science, she went on to co-found Affectiva, a pioneering emotion recognition and analytics company that uses AI to detect and respond to people’s feelings. Through Affectiva, Rana has been trailblazing a new branch of science--one that takes human emotions seriously and considers them just as important as the words people say.

In her book, Girl Decoded, Rana chronicles her journey and how her deep research into emotion recognition is helping create a future where technology can understand us on a deeper level. Rana not only shares her success story and her struggles along the way, but she also provides a road map for how technology can be used to make our interactions with each other more authentic and empathetic.

At the heart of Rana’s work is her belief that machines can be emotionally intelligent and understand humans in ways we never thought possible. In the book, she delves into how this emotionally intelligent future that she envisions can be achieved with the help of technologies like machine learning and artificial emotions. Rana covers topics such as how emotion AI can be used in healthcare to diagnose mental health issues; in education to improve student engagement; in customer service to enhance user experiences; and in service robotics to build trust between humans and machines.

Ultimately, Girl Decoded issues a call to action: for the technology and business sectors to develop products and services that are founded on the principle of human-machine emotional intelligence. Rana’s passion, expertise, and tireless work have allowed Affectiva to work with some of the world’s biggest companies, including IBM and Disney, who are now realizing the immense potential of her technology. Through her book, she encourages other innovators and entrepreneurs to look beyond the classic machine-based interactions and embrace the science of human emotions.

Rana el Kaliouby’s Girl Decoded is one of a kind. It tells the exciting story of how one woman is using technology to rewrite the rules of how we interact and shows us that the future is now. Through her journey, passion, and expertise, Rana has opened the door to untapped opportunities; and with Girl Decoded, she provides the roadmap to an emotionally intelligent future.