Beyond Deep Learning: Charting the Next Frontiers of Affective Computing

Affective computing (AC), like most other areas of computational research, has benefited tremendously from advances in deep learning (DL). These advances have opened up new horizons in AC research and practice. Yet, as DL dominates the community’s attention, there is a danger of overlooking other emerging trends in artificial intelligence (AI) research. Furthermore, over-reliance on one particular technology may lead to stagnating progress. In an attempt to foster the exploration of complementary directions, we provide a concise, easily digestible overview of emerging trends in AI research that stand to play a vital role in solving some of the remaining challenges in AC research. Our overview is driven by the limitations of the current state of the art as it pertains to AC.