The eyes are said to be the gateway to the soul. And a recent study has shown that the way they move can really tell us a lot about us – even if it’s going to analyze artificial intelligence. The type of personality can be predicted by tracking eye movements.
“Thanks to our approach to machine learning, we not only confirm the role of the personality in explaining eye movements in everyday life but also reveal new features of eye movements as predictors of personality traits,” said neuropsychologist Tobias Loetscher of the University of South Australia.
It has already been shown that eye movements can at least indicate to a perceptive observer what we are thinking or what we feel. Of course, this is a lot (both consciously and unconsciously) used in interpersonal relationships. What if a robot sat instead of another man instead of you?
That was precisely what the Loetscher team wanted to try to answer. So he picked up 50 volunteers and let them complete tests that showed whether they were more open to experience, conscience, extrovert, neurotic, or welcoming (Five-factor Big Five). He then equipped them with a special headset that recorded the movements of her eyes and sent them to the shop to buy something.
When records were later examined by AI, she managed to isolate patterns of eye movements and assign them to the above-mentioned basic psychological profiles. Its precision was not impressive, but according to the researchers it still kept 15% better than if it had acted accidentally.
If the technology improves, it could dramatically improve our interactions with machines – such as various virtual assistants. “This research provides opportunities for the development of computers and robots and robots who could become more natural and capable of interpreting human social signals,” Loetscher said.
