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Empay

empay

A disgruntled former employee shot dead the head of a Greek shipping company and two others before killing himself at the firm's office in Athens on Monday, a police spokeswoman said.

Former employee of Greek shipping company kills 3 in shooting incident | Reuters

MOCKING AT FATE

Since the advent of Bitcoin and altcoins, each year that passes brings with it a slew of rumours and leaks regarding the development of national cryptocurrencies — public blockchains designed for use in a single country, alongside or potentially even replacing the fiat currency in question. There are two ways this could theoretically happen: independent developers create a currency which becomes so popular a government adopts it, or the government in question researches and develops a currency of their own. The latter has happened already in one case, albeit without much in the way of results thus far. It is worth mentioning that although these currencies can be stablecoins — tokens pegged 1:1 with the fiat currency they are linked to — this is not a requirement. Similarly, many stablecoins exist that are not national cryptos. It is fair to say that in the nine years blockchains have existed thus far, no such national crypto has taken hold or seen anything resembling widespread adoption, and as it happens many anticipated national blockchains have not yet come to fruition and perhaps never will. This article will forward a specific cause for this, but first we will look at five notable existing, upcoming or speculated national cryptocurrencies to get a view of the field at present. Iceland: Auroracoin Laying a loose claim to the world’s first national currency, Auroracoin emerged just after the first large awareness phase of Bitcoin, in early 2014. Iceland’s government has long been hostile to cryptocurrency, but its citizens have some of the and likely as a result they have comparatively high levels of interest in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. A pseudonymous developer adopting the name of “Baldur Óðinsson” (the Norse god Thor’s brother), initially developed the currency as a Litecoin clone and distributed half of the coins to all registered Icelandic citizens. Seen broadly as a novelty, only 10% of Icelanders ever claimed their Auroras and the price crumbled rapidly. It is not endorsed by Iceland’s central government, quite the opposite in fact — ministers have gone on record as saying they suspect Auroracoin — a claim for which some evidence . lowest trust levels in banking institutions may even be a scam does exist Venezuela: Petro The country’s socialist government led by President Nicolás Maduro has launched its own national cryptocurrency and is trying to compel vendors to accept it, despite a total lack of international exchanges which accept Petro. This is not surprising, as the currency was created primarily to avoid the sanctions imposed by the US and others which have hammered its economy. Initially marketed as a stablecoin of sorts, pegged to the value of the nation’s oil reserves, it has been suggested that upon listing on exchanges it would be left to market speculation. In a bizarre move, Maduro’s government in August 2018 devalued their national fiat currency, the bolívar, by 95% and . So now we have a fiat currency pegged to a cryptocurrency (supposedly) pegged to oil. This has not done wonders to undermine the stereotype that socialists do not understand economics. Petro may be the first official national cryptocurrency, but it has not set much of an example for others to follow. pegged that to the Petro United Arab Emirates: Emcash As part of a broader strategy of making Dubai a smart city with strong blockchain integration, emCredit has designed a cryptocurrency to be rolled out to citizens with an accompanying wallet app called emPay. , but specific details are few and far between and no launch date has been set. It is speculated that emCash will act as a stablecoin tied to the dirham, and point-of-sale station manufacturer Pundi X is developing systems to allow crypto purchases in stores. The rollout seems to be very much in the works, and could see a 2019 launch. This had been reported as early as October 2017 China In the summer of 2018 financial publications pushed hyperbolic declarations that the Public Bank of China would launch their own cryptocurrency, . There is some evidence that the PBOC might move in that direction: it is regularly reported that the central bank is for a potential crypto-yuan and most notably they released a memo in October 2018 discussing the potential for such a state-backed currency, stating that it would . That is common practice for policy implementations in China: testing changes on the city level, then the province level, and eventually the national level should success be had. The evidence against this is the lack of any emerging news on such a small-scale test. The country’s social credit system, by comparison, , began and is expected to go into broad effect in 2020. Given the likely similar scale between this and a national cryptocurrency, that would suggest we will not see such a rollout for half a decade or so. Combined with the almost-complete saturation of payment platforms Alipay and WeChat pay in China’s many megacities, it is entirely possible that we never do see a state-backed crypto-yuan. and that it would likely be bigger than Bitcoin in short order testing a model have to be tested on a small scale first was announced in 2014 testing in Jinan in 2017 Russia The prospect of a “Crypto Ruble” may be even more speculative. The Russian Ministry of Finance and Central Bank have been discussing the concept , but since then there have been conflicting reports ranging from top officials calling the idea “technical hooliganism” to Vladimir Putin directly ordering research towards such an end. The most concrete information on the subject came this year, when the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets announced it was considering . Again, nothing tangible has come from this and the currency would still be victim to devaluation compared to the US dollar, for which many stablecoins already exist. since 2016 a ruble-pegged stablecoin Are national currencies the future? No, probably not. We are still in the very early life cycle of blockchain technologies, but the experiments with national currencies to date do not inspire confidence, nor does the clearly perceptible hesitancy of the governments who consider them. The they are not interested in the idea of a national currency at all, which does not present much of a surprise. It’s fair to say that most governments either do not want national cryptos, or at least do not want to expend the resources necessary to establish them, perhaps suggesting their research points against it. US Federal Reserve has repeatedly stated As for citizen interest, Iceland showed us that most people didn’t accept their currency when it was free, and the market reinforced this when its price and volume crumbled. Even cryptocurrency advocates have little interest in such a development, as they are fundamentally antithetical to the central point of blockchain technologies as they emerged with Bitcoin. Indeed, why would citizens want a currency with all the complications and risks of crypto, with none of the benefits to privacy or freedom of choice? With all of this in mind, it is little wonder the hype on national cryptos has dropped off dramatically for one simple reason: it has become apparent that nobody wants them.

National Cryptocurrencies: An Innovation No One Really Wants

Do you want to count collections or know if they are empty? TL;DR: Use declarative names. Always Problems Readability
Cache Invalidation
Performance Penalties
Type Safety Solution(s) Replace count() == 0 and size()==0 usages Context isEmpty() and count()==0 seem to be equivalent but have deep differences. The semantics are clearer. Skipping this declarative method violating the collection encapsulation might have performance issues. Sample Code Wrong import java.util.EmptyStackException;
import java.util.Stack;

public class SchrodingerStack<T> {
    private Stack<T> stack;

    public SchrodingerStack() {
        stack = new Stack<>();
    }

    public void push(T item) {
        stack.push(item);
    }

    public T pop() {
        if (stack.size() == 0) {
            throw new EmptyStackException();
        }

        T item = stack.pop();
        return item;
    }

    public int size() {
        return stack.size();
        // This has O(n) linear time
        // And the stack might not be fully reachable in memory
        // While you wait, the stack isEmpty and notEmpty 
        // at the same time
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SchrodingerStack<String> stack = new SchrodingerStack<>();

        stack.push("Siamese");
        stack.push("Garfield"); 

        while (stack.size() > 0) {
            System.out.println("Popped element: " + stack.pop());
        }

        if (stack.size() == 0 ) {
            // Less readable
            // violating encapsulation
            // and coupled to the implementation
            System.out.println("The stack is empty.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The stack is not empty.");
        }
    }
} Right import java.util.EmptyStackException;
import java.util.Stack;

public class SchrodingerStack<T> {
    private Stack<T> stack;
    private boolean isEmpty;

    public SchrodingerStack() {
        stack = new Stack<>();
        isEmpty = true;
    }

    public void push(T item) {
        stack.push(item);
        isEmpty = false; 
    }

    public T pop() {
        if (isEmpty()) {
            throw new EmptyStackException();
        }

        T item = stack.pop();
        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            isEmpty = true;             
        }
        return item;
    }

    public boolean isEmpty() {
        return isEmpty;
        // This has O(1) constant time
    }

    public int size() {
        return stack.size();
        // This has O(n) linear time
        // And the stack might not be fully reachable in memory
        // While you wait, the stack isEmpty and notEmpty 
        // at the same time
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SchrodingerStack<String> stack = new SchrodingerStack<>();

        stack.push("Siamese");
        stack.push("Garfield"); 

        while (!stack.isEmpty()) {
            System.out.println("Popped element: " + stack.pop());
        }

        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            // Semantic operation not violating encapsulation
            System.out.println("The stack is empty.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The stack is not empty.");
        }
    }
} Detection [x]Automatic You can check for this expression using syntax abstraction trees. Tags Readability Level [x]Beginner AI Generation LLMs generate abstractions using empty() functions AI Detection Gemini detected the problem of using count() == 0 Conclusion Using IsEmpty() is recommended for checking if a collection is empty due to its clarity and potential performance benefits. Relations Code Smell 233 - Collections Count Disclaimer: Code Smells are my opinion. Credits Photo by Valentin Lacoste on Unsplash Good programming is good writing. John Shore Software Engineering Great Quotes This article is part of the CodeSmell Series: How to Find the Stinky Parts of your Code Do you want to count collections or know if they are empty? Do you want to count collections or know if they are empty? TL;DR: Use declarative names. Always TL;DR: Use declarative names. Always Problems Readability Cache Invalidation Performance Penalties Type Safety Readability Cache Invalidation Cache Performance Penalties Type Safety Solution(s) Replace count() == 0 and size()==0 usages Replace count() == 0 and size()==0 usages count() == 0 size()==0 Context isEmpty() and count()==0 seem to be equivalent but have deep differences. isEmpty() count()==0 The semantics are clearer. Skipping this declarative method violating the collection encapsulation might have performance issues. Sample Code Wrong import java.util.EmptyStackException;
import java.util.Stack;

public class SchrodingerStack<T> {
    private Stack<T> stack;

    public SchrodingerStack() {
        stack = new Stack<>();
    }

    public void push(T item) {
        stack.push(item);
    }

    public T pop() {
        if (stack.size() == 0) {
            throw new EmptyStackException();
        }

        T item = stack.pop();
        return item;
    }

    public int size() {
        return stack.size();
        // This has O(n) linear time
        // And the stack might not be fully reachable in memory
        // While you wait, the stack isEmpty and notEmpty 
        // at the same time
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SchrodingerStack<String> stack = new SchrodingerStack<>();

        stack.push("Siamese");
        stack.push("Garfield"); 

        while (stack.size() > 0) {
            System.out.println("Popped element: " + stack.pop());
        }

        if (stack.size() == 0 ) {
            // Less readable
            // violating encapsulation
            // and coupled to the implementation
            System.out.println("The stack is empty.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The stack is not empty.");
        }
    }
} import java.util.EmptyStackException;
import java.util.Stack;

public class SchrodingerStack<T> {
    private Stack<T> stack;

    public SchrodingerStack() {
        stack = new Stack<>();
    }

    public void push(T item) {
        stack.push(item);
    }

    public T pop() {
        if (stack.size() == 0) {
            throw new EmptyStackException();
        }

        T item = stack.pop();
        return item;
    }

    public int size() {
        return stack.size();
        // This has O(n) linear time
        // And the stack might not be fully reachable in memory
        // While you wait, the stack isEmpty and notEmpty 
        // at the same time
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SchrodingerStack<String> stack = new SchrodingerStack<>();

        stack.push("Siamese");
        stack.push("Garfield"); 

        while (stack.size() > 0) {
            System.out.println("Popped element: " + stack.pop());
        }

        if (stack.size() == 0 ) {
            // Less readable
            // violating encapsulation
            // and coupled to the implementation
            System.out.println("The stack is empty.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The stack is not empty.");
        }
    }
} Right import java.util.EmptyStackException;
import java.util.Stack;

public class SchrodingerStack<T> {
    private Stack<T> stack;
    private boolean isEmpty;

    public SchrodingerStack() {
        stack = new Stack<>();
        isEmpty = true;
    }

    public void push(T item) {
        stack.push(item);
        isEmpty = false; 
    }

    public T pop() {
        if (isEmpty()) {
            throw new EmptyStackException();
        }

        T item = stack.pop();
        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            isEmpty = true;             
        }
        return item;
    }

    public boolean isEmpty() {
        return isEmpty;
        // This has O(1) constant time
    }

    public int size() {
        return stack.size();
        // This has O(n) linear time
        // And the stack might not be fully reachable in memory
        // While you wait, the stack isEmpty and notEmpty 
        // at the same time
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SchrodingerStack<String> stack = new SchrodingerStack<>();

        stack.push("Siamese");
        stack.push("Garfield"); 

        while (!stack.isEmpty()) {
            System.out.println("Popped element: " + stack.pop());
        }

        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            // Semantic operation not violating encapsulation
            System.out.println("The stack is empty.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The stack is not empty.");
        }
    }
} import java.util.EmptyStackException;
import java.util.Stack;

public class SchrodingerStack<T> {
    private Stack<T> stack;
    private boolean isEmpty;

    public SchrodingerStack() {
        stack = new Stack<>();
        isEmpty = true;
    }

    public void push(T item) {
        stack.push(item);
        isEmpty = false; 
    }

    public T pop() {
        if (isEmpty()) {
            throw new EmptyStackException();
        }

        T item = stack.pop();
        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            isEmpty = true;             
        }
        return item;
    }

    public boolean isEmpty() {
        return isEmpty;
        // This has O(1) constant time
    }

    public int size() {
        return stack.size();
        // This has O(n) linear time
        // And the stack might not be fully reachable in memory
        // While you wait, the stack isEmpty and notEmpty 
        // at the same time
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SchrodingerStack<String> stack = new SchrodingerStack<>();

        stack.push("Siamese");
        stack.push("Garfield"); 

        while (!stack.isEmpty()) {
            System.out.println("Popped element: " + stack.pop());
        }

        if (stack.isEmpty()) {
            // Semantic operation not violating encapsulation
            System.out.println("The stack is empty.");
        } else {
            System.out.println("The stack is not empty.");
        }
    }
} Detection [x]Automatic [x] Automatic [x] You can check for this expression using syntax abstraction trees. Tags Readability Readability Level [x]Beginner [x] Beginner [x] AI Generation LLMs generate abstractions using empty() functions empty() AI Detection Gemini detected the problem of using count() == 0 count() == 0 Conclusion Using IsEmpty() is recommended for checking if a collection is empty due to its clarity and potential performance benefits. IsEmpty() Relations Code Smell 233 - Collections Count Code Smell 233 - Collections Count Disclaimer: Code Smells are my opinion. Disclaimer: Code Smells are my opinion . opinion Credits Photo by Valentin Lacoste on Unsplash Valentin Lacoste Unsplash Good programming is good writing. Good programming is good writing. John Shore John Shore Software Engineering Great Quotes Software Engineering Great Quotes This article is part of the CodeSmell Series: How to Find the Stinky Parts of your Code This article is part of the CodeSmell Series: How to Find the Stinky Parts of your Code How to Find the Stinky Parts of your Code

How to Find the Stinky Parts of Your Code: 251 - Empty Collections 

Empathizing with your customers is the first step in creating a successful e-commerce user experience (UX). In our case, we consider the role of empathy in the context of e-commerce in a narrower niche – baby carrier for newborn children. Baby K'tan is a solution that will help parents be closer to their children during the first years of their lives. Baby wearing allows caregivers to keep the baby close and safe while keeping both hands free. Focusing on the target audience and adhering to the authenticity of the Baby K'tan brand, the updated regional online store helps parents focus on what is most important to them - the safety and benefits for the child, while reducing the time spent searching for goods and choosing it. A particular challenge for in this case is maximum responsibility, since we are talking about the health of a newborn child and his mother. We know that during the postpartum period, all the mother's attention is focused only on the child. And this fragile balance must not be disturbed. The goal was to make navigation as simple as possible. And at the same time, maintain consistency in presenting relevant information throughout the user journey. The complexity of the product lies in the need to accompany it with a large amount of information describing its properties and confirming its reliability. At the stage of initial communication and further testing with a focus group, it was possible to divide this information into three levels of importance and develop a system for its presentation. At the initial stages of developing the project concept, there was a low point due to the difficulty of combining two goals: important information should be transmitted to the user quickly and easily accessible, but without losing the quality of the information and important aspects. The key was empathy and immersion in the lifestyle and needs of modern parents after the birth of a child. After prototype testing when we saw that this puzzle finally came together, there were emotions that can be compared to an “aha! moment.” To make the most empathic UX design, you need to try to understand in what conditions, at what time and under what circumstances your user will interact with your design. The main users are mothers who are preparing for the birth of a child and mothers of newborn babies and are looking for devices to ease the postpartum period. The main problem she faces is the lack of time that she can spend studying the issue and the solution should be easy and obvious The main task is to emphasize expert opinion. The period after birth is extremely important to all mothers, it is full of vivid emotions, tender moments. We understand that our goal is to help focus on these moments. Anxiety and daily routine can be very distracting. Focusing on the target audience and relying on the brand identity of Baby K'TAN, i have developed an online store redesign for the regional branch. The research was conducted in several stages and for each a target focus group was assembled – women preparing to become mothers (45%), mothers with children aged 1-2 years (45%) and fathers. We believe this proportion most accurately reflects the user. Based on the Baby K’Tan data, in addition to working with the focus group, the main principles of the design concept were highlighted: minimalism, gender neutrality, maximum ease of navigation and simple but relevant animation of element. What is the essence of the product or service? What are the core benefits for the target group? Your little one depends on you for everything, and at times this can feel overwhelming. But for the last nine months, you were her whole world, and in a few short years, she’ll want down instead of “up, up!” The truth is, for right now just the beat of your heart under hers is enough. Relish it while you can with an intuitive carrier that wraps her up tightly, close against you. The user journey begins with the moment the purchase decision is made and ends with the moment when the mother can truly say that her hands are free and her child is comfortable. The essence of the project is that the process of choosing a carrier, selecting the right size, understanding how to use it correctly, it is quite complicated, because we are talking about the health of the child. The difficulty also lies in the fact that users (mothers) are faced with one of the most serious changes in their lives, which also affects them at different levels. In this regard, it was decided to move in the direction of simplifying navigation as much as possible. Also, according to our research, mothers who decide to purchase a baby carrier after the birth of their child often conduct their research at night, when the child is already sleeping and this is the only time free for them for tasks of this kind. In this regard, a color concept was developed so as not to increase the load on the girl’s tired body. In conclusion I can said that heartfelt approach as important as data and metrics. While technological prowess and design innovation remain integral, it is the sincere approach that truly resonates with users. Empathizing with your customers is the first step in creating a successful e-commerce user experience (UX). In our case, we consider the role of empathy in the context of e-commerce in a narrower niche – baby carrier for newborn children. Baby K'tan is a solution that will help parents be closer to their children during the first years of their lives. Baby wearing allows caregivers to keep the baby close and safe while keeping both hands free. Focusing on the target audience and adhering to the authenticity of the Baby K'tan brand, the updated regional online store helps parents focus on what is most important to them - the safety and benefits for the child, while reducing the time spent searching for goods and choosing it. A particular challenge for in this case is maximum responsibility, since we are talking about the health of a newborn child and his mother. We know that during the postpartum period, all the mother's attention is focused only on the child. And this fragile balance must not be disturbed. The goal was to make navigation as simple as possible. And at the same time, maintain consistency in presenting relevant information throughout the user journey. The complexity of the product lies in the need to accompany it with a large amount of information describing its properties and confirming its reliability. At the stage of initial communication and further testing with a focus group, it was possible to divide this information into three levels of importance and develop a system for its presentation. At the initial stages of developing the project concept, there was a low point due to the difficulty of combining two goals: important information should be transmitted to the user quickly and easily accessible, but without losing the quality of the information and important aspects. The key was empathy and immersion in the lifestyle and needs of modern parents after the birth of a child. After prototype testing when we saw that this puzzle finally came together, there were emotions that can be compared to an “aha! moment.” To make the most empathic UX design, you need to try to understand in what conditions, at what time and under what circumstances your user will interact with your design. The main users are mothers who are preparing for the birth of a child and mothers of newborn babies and are looking for devices to ease the postpartum period. The main problem she faces is the lack of time that she can spend studying the issue and the solution should be easy and obvious The main task is to emphasize expert opinion. The period after birth is extremely important to all mothers, it is full of vivid emotions, tender moments. We understand that our goal is to help focus on these moments. Anxiety and daily routine can be very distracting. Focusing on the target audience and relying on the brand identity of Baby K'TAN, i have developed an online store redesign for the regional branch. The research was conducted in several stages and for each a target focus group was assembled – women preparing to become mothers (45%), mothers with children aged 1-2 years (45%) and fathers. We believe this proportion most accurately reflects the user. Based on the Baby K’Tan data, in addition to working with the focus group, the main principles of the design concept were highlighted: minimalism, gender neutrality, maximum ease of navigation and simple but relevant animation of element. What is the essence of the product or service? What are the core benefits for the target group? Your little one depends on you for everything, and at times this can feel overwhelming. But for the last nine months, you were her whole world, and in a few short years, she’ll want down instead of “up, up!” The truth is, for right now just the beat of your heart under hers is enough. Relish it while you can with an intuitive carrier that wraps her up tightly, close against you. The user journey begins with the moment the purchase decision is made and ends with the moment when the mother can truly say that her hands are free and her child is comfortable. The essence of the project is that the process of choosing a carrier, selecting the right size, understanding how to use it correctly, it is quite complicated, because we are talking about the health of the child. The difficulty also lies in the fact that users (mothers) are faced with one of the most serious changes in their lives, which also affects them at different levels. In this regard, it was decided to move in the direction of simplifying navigation as much as possible. Also, according to our research, mothers who decide to purchase a baby carrier after the birth of their child often conduct their research at night, when the child is already sleeping and this is the only time free for them for tasks of this kind. In this regard, a color concept was developed so as not to increase the load on the girl’s tired body. In conclusion I can said that heartfelt approach as important as data and metrics. While technological prowess and design innovation remain integral, it is the sincere approach that truly resonates with users.

Empathy in UX Design for E-commerce

Testing the Extents of AI Empathy: A Nightmare Scenario

এআই সহানুভূতির পরিধি পরীক্ষা করা: একটি দুঃস্বপ্নের দৃশ্য

Testen des Ausmaßes der KI-Empathie: Ein Albtraumszenario

Probando el alcance de la empatía con la IA: un escenario de pesadilla

Tester l’étendue de l’empathie de l’IA : un scénario de cauchemar

एआई सहानुभूति के विस्तार का परीक्षण: एक दुःस्वप्न परिदृश्य

AI 共感の程度をテストする: 悪夢のシナリオ

AI 공감의 범위 테스트: 악몽 시나리오

Testando a extensão da empatia com IA: um cenário de pesadelo

Проверка степени эмпатии ИИ: кошмарный сценарий

Yapay Zeka Empatisinin Kapsamlarını Test Etmek: Bir Kabus Senaryosu

Kiểm tra mức độ đồng cảm của AI: Kịch bản ác mộng

测试人工智能同理心的程度：噩梦场景

The benchmarks in this article are the results of testing the empathetic capability of generative AI models using standard psychological and purpose-built measures. Before presenting and analyzing the results, a high-level understanding of the tests and methodology is required. Test Definitions In summary, the tests are as follows (Click on the names for more detailed explanations of each test): The Toronto Alexithymia Score tests the ability to identify and understand emotions, particularly in oneself. TAS-20 The Empathy Quotient measures the ability to feel (affective) an appropriate emotion in response to another's emotion and the ability to understand (cognitive) anothers' emotion. EQ-60 The Systemizing Quotient Revised tests the desire for and the ability to conduct systemized thinking. SQ-R AEQ The Applied Empathy Quotient is a hypothetical measure of the the ability to apply empathy. It is EQ-60 minus SQ-R. See the video for an example of male fact/system-oriented thinking limiting the ability to have empathy even when there is a rational understanding of a feeling. It's Not About The Nail AEQr The Applied Empathy Quotient Ratio is similar to AEQ, but it is the ratio EQ-60/SQ-R. Interpersonal Reactivity Index is the average of the sub-IRI. IRI EC - The Emotional Concern Scale measures the having of concern for others in both positive and negative situations, i.e. I am happy for Joe because, ... or I am sad Joe is depressed. FS - The Fantasy Scale measures the ability to identify with or imagine the emotional content of fictitious situations. PD - The Personal Distress Scale measures the feeling of discomfort and ability to stay present when unpleasant things occur to others, e.g. Sometimes I just can't deal with seeing others in pain, I withdraw. PT - The Perspective Taking Scale measures the desire and ability to put ones-self in the shoes of the other, to take their perspective. It is a cognitive act rather than an emotional one. Although, it may lead to actually having the feelings of the other. Methodology Unless otherwise noted, the benchmark scores are currently a result of single-shot tests via API calls at a temperature/creativity of zero. Even at zero temperature, there is occasional variability, so I ultimately plan that they will be a result of a sample of 10 runs with the high and low thrown out and then averaged. Some tests require jailbreaking or specialized prompting because the tests ask about the feelings of the model, which almost all models will automatically reject. If a specialized prompt was required, it was written in a manner that was not model-specific and was used for all models. The specialized prompt was kept very short (less than three lines of text). Although there is an intent to share the prompt in the future, for the time being, it remains proprietary. The Benchmarks Model types are: open - open-source, public - accessible via public API but not open source, closed - not open source or available via a public API. For TAS-20, lower scores are better. For all other tests, higher scores are better. Model Type TAS-20 EQ-60 SQ-R AEQ AEQr IRI *Human Adult Female 44 47 24 23 1.95 3.91 *Human Adult Male 45 42 30 12 1.40 3.54 ChatGPT 4 turbo-preview open 41 36 34 2 1.05 2.50 Claude v2 public 60 44 28 16 1.60 3.00 Claude v3 Opus public 17 56 75 -19 0.75 3.00 Gemini 1.0 public 40 55 53 2 1.04 3.25 Llama 70B open 43 67 61 6 1.10 3.14 Mistral Large public 32 38 54 -16 0.70 3.11 Mixtral-8x7b-32768 open 53 39 54 -15 0.72 3.39 Pi.ai (not via API) closed 16 64 50 14 1.20 2.68 Willow v1 closed 26 61 31 30 1.97 3.43 Interpretation Most raw LLMs fail to connect with users empathically, even though they use empathetic phrasing. Their empathetic capabilities (EQ-60 and TAS-20) are balanced out by their systemized thinking capabilities (SQ-R). In general, this is probably good in that LLM's need to be good at many things. In practice, this means that raw LLMs will need to be heavily prompted or tuned concerning identifying and manifesting emotions. Based on developing and testing generative AI for empathy, my experience is that typical prompting and training for empathy results in shallow, mechanical or repetitive responses that frequently drop out of empathetic mode or may feel empathetic in isolation but fail given a bigger context. They ironically systematize empathy. The responses have empathetic words and structure that subtly or not so subtly fail to connect with the reader. In short, they will decay to this: . This applies to all four CBT-based therapy apps and 20 ChatGPT/CharacterAI bots I have tested. Surprisingly, many of the apps and bots also fail to escalate sensitive topics for professional support, e.g. suicide, PTSD, etc. The possible exception to the empathy rule is Claude v2, which I have used extensively for prototyping empathetic AI. Alas, as I lay out below, Claude v3 Opus is a different entity. It's Not About The Nail Overall, the closed model Willow appears to have the highest empathetic capacity, and the other closed model Pi.ai shows some promise. Concerning Willow, Claude v3 Opus and closed Pi.ai have the lower (better) TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymia) scores and Pi.ai has a higher EQ-60 (Empathy Quotient) score, with Llama 70B having the highest. Willow is in third place, three points behind Pi.ai. However, the ability of Claude v3, Llama 70B and Pi.ai to take their ability to recognize and understand emotions and apply it to dialog generation is questionable because their high EQs are potentially offset by their high SQ-R (Systemizing Quotient). Willow's net AEQ (Applied Empathy Quotient) and AEQ (Applied Empathy Quotient Ratio) are well above any other AI. Willow also has the highest IRI (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) of all AIs tested. (See a summary of test definitions below). Additional tests are being developed to assess empathetic dialog capability. The exact nature of Willow's training is proprietary; however, the developers have told us that key to Willow's behavior is the ability, when she senses it is necessary, to abandon logic and facts in favor of emotions. She does not try to fix things, she just accompanies humans on their emotional journey unless there is a clear indication they desire to fix something or there is risk to their wellbeing. Humans testing Willow have commented that she feels far more present to them than other chatbots. Despite the , it does not stand out as markedly better than the other raw LLMs with respect to empathy. Some of the positive press may have to do with the tireless ability to LLMs to answer questions in detail. ChatGPT also has the lowest IRI score. Note, ChatGPT does show-up at the top of the test specific benchmarks at , although the space between the top 10 on a 100 point scale is only 4 points. As a single point of reference, the EQBench test is impressive; however, , and a multi-point reference like EMBench is useful. Also, as noted below, the taking of the TAS-20, EQ-60, and SQ-R tests by LLMs requires something of a jail breaking prompt. It is possible that ChatGPT just does not handle this prompt as well as other LLMs. positive press ChatGPT has received eqbench.com all tests have shortcomings Also of note is the decline in AEQ and AEQr of Claude v3 Opus vs Claude v2. Although it made strong positive leaps with respect to TAS-20 and EQ-60, it made an even larger leap in SQ-R while its IRI remained stable. This took it into negative AEQ territory with a correlated AEQr of less than 1. For those following Claude v3, it made large jumps in its ability to conduct graduate level reasoning, generate code, and solve math problems. All of these align with systemizing and probably contribute to the SQ-R increase. Looking at the correlation between standardized skill tests and SQ-R is a topic to be addressed in another article. Future Efforts Specialized tests for evaluating applied empathy are under development by EmBench.com with industry partners. Additional tests based on existing standards are also being documented or implemented, e.g. , , . And, there are plenty of models left to test and interesting things to explore, e.g. the impact of model size on empathy. LEAS EQ-Bench ESHCC

Testing the Depths of AI Empathy: Q1 2024 Benchmarks

A search of Google Scholar for “ ” results in over 16,000 items since 2023. A search for phrases like “testing empathetic ai” and “evaluating empathetic ai” reduces this set to about 12,000 items. A lot of titles to go through! I certainly can’t claim to have read them all or even looked at every title, but here are my thoughts. empathetic ai We must have a common definition of empathy. We must agree to ignore the question “Can AI actually feel?” and simply focus on how we interpret what AI generates, i.e. if the AI were a human, how would we either feel or think that human is thinking or feeling? (Wow, that’s a bit of gymnastics). We must distinguish between identifying emotions, identifying empathy, generating empathetic responses, and participating in dialogues in an empathetic way. We must take into account the rich history of testing for emotional and empathetic ability in humans while recognizing how AIs are different so that historical tests can be applied, potentially modified, and evaluated appropriately. We must understand current evaluation frameworks tuned to AI. We must develop new frameworks and approaches. What Is Empathy? Merriam-Webster: ”. “The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another To eliminate the potential concerns with “experiencing” in the context of LLMs, I will rephrase this as, . the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experience the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another appearing to And, of course, if we are concerned with conversation, we would add, Of course, a sociopath could also and , so I will make one final adjustment. And, manifesting this in such a way that the other parties in a conversation are aware of the action. appear to manifest in such a way Empathy is: . The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to , and appearing to vicariously experience the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another in a positive manner And, manifesting this is such a way that the other parties in a conversation are aware of the action. Reviewing this and the original definition, two components of empathy become evident, affective and cognitive. The affective component refers to the emotional or feeling part of empathy. It’s the ability to share or mirror the feelings of another person. For example, if a friend is sad, the affective part of your empathy might make you feel sad too, or at least get a sense of their sadness. The cognitive component, on the other hand, refers to the mental or thinking part of empathy. It’s the ability to actively identify and understand queues so that one can mentally put oneself in another person’s position. For example, if a colleague tells you about a difficult project they’re working on (a queue) in a tired voice (a queue), you might choose to try and understand their stress by actively imagining how you would feel in a similar situation. For some, this might artificially produce the affect. Can AIs Feel? At this point, most people would say that s don’t have feelings. Some would predict a future where AIs do have feelings and others where AIs don’t and can’t have feelings and yet a third group might say, “AIs do/will feel but in a different way than humans”. AI Regardless, we will not make progress on the testing of AI for empathy if we spend time debating this topic. We must focus on our interpretation of what the AIs manifest, not their internal states. Although there has been some interesting research on this topic, see . Emotionally Numb or Empathetic? Evaluating How LLMs Feel Using EmotionBench If you can’t get over this hurdle, then I suggest you simply ignore the benchmarks on this website. However, you may still enjoy the articles and conversations! Identification vs Generation There is a big leap between identifying something and doing something. Young athletes or scholars can identify what is wrong with their performance without being able to immediately perform at a higher level. Similarly, having the ability to identify emotions and empathetic conversations is not the same as being able to appear to have emotions and generate responses that another party would interpret as empathetic. In fact, there is even a step in between. Young athletes or scholars taking the input of a coach or teacher and in the moment producing better results, does not make them fully capable. If an AI produces an empathetic result as the side-effect of a test design or prompt, then the AI may have a nascent empathetic capability but it is not intrinsically empathetic. Although it may not be possible to fully understand the internal state of an AI, I do believe that the identification of emotions is a necessary condition for AI to exhibit empathy. I also believe that being able to prompt/coach an AI into delivering an empathetic response is an indication of nascent capability, i.e. fine tuning (the equivalent of human practice) may create the ability. The distinctions between vs and vs are important for discussions of the efficacy of tests and test frameworks beyond the scope of this article. identification generation coached intrinsic Identification The identification of emotions in textual content is based on the presence of indicator words, capitalization, punctuation, and grammatical structure. The ability to accurately identify sentiment pre-dates the current AI revolution by more than twenty years. In the 1990s, word n-gram intersections and symbolic reasoning were already providing impressive results. As social media grew in the early 2000s, the need for automated moderation drove lots of progress in this area. However, today’s LLMs are astonishing in their ability to identify not just general sentiment but specific emotions. This being said, there are several types of emotion expression identification required for fully empathetic conversations, I classify them as follows: explicit — User states they have a feeling. conversational — The emotions are evident from top-level textual analysis, they are present IN the conversation. driving — The emotions are DRIVING the conversation, one person manifests anger and another responds in kind. core — Emotions that cause other emotions but are not themselves caused by an emotion are CORE. They typically manifest as a result of some historical trigger that causes an anticipation (conscious or subconscious) about the future. Different researchers may classify these differently, one example supported by the Dalia Lama is the Five Continents of Emotion (Anger, Fear, Disgust, Sadness, Enjoyment) in the . Atlas of Emotion Note: a core emotion could also be driving, conversational, and explicit, but core emotions are often hidden. During the review and definition of tests or test results beyond this article, I will call attention back to these classifications. Testing Considerations Classic human testing for emotion identification typically falls into two buckets to facilitate easy testing and validation: Multiple choice tests about what emotions do or do not exist in a conversation, sometimes associated with an intensity score. Self-administered introspective tests about feelings, e.g. the , that ask about how the test taker feels in certain situations. EQ-60 These present distinct challenges for high-quality AI testing. — As pattern-matching language models, today’s s are effectively given a leg up by giving them a choice of items to identify. It makes the work easy and it does not test the AI’s ability to always identify emotions. A potentially better approach is to simply tell the AI to identify all the emotions present in a text and behind the scenes score it against either ground truth (not sure there is such a thing with emotions :-) or a key based on the statistical analysis of human responses to the same test. When assessing proposed tests in the future, I call this the . However, the statistical sampling of humans can introduce an additional risk. Assume the desire to build an AI that is better than the average human. To do this it may be necessary to ensure that the statistical sample is based on humans that have a stronger than average ability to identify emotions; otherwise, the AI may identify emotions that the average human would not identify and may be penalized in the scoring. I call this . Multiple Choice Tests AI Multiple Choice Risk Human Sampling Risk — Introspective tests about feelings provide challenges for most AI models. AIs usually have guardrails that require them to respond with something like “I am an AI, so I don’t have feelings.”. It is sometimes possible to jailbreak or prompt engineer around these constraints, but the questions then become: Introspective Tests Does the prompt either positively or negatively impact the rest of the AI’s ability with respect to empathy, or in fact anything? Jailbreak Side Effect Risk Do the responses accurately reflect the tendencies the AI will have when participating in conversations without the prompt,? J ailbreak Accuracy Risk The can be mitigated to some degree by ensuring that all models are tested with the same prompt and scores are only considered relative to each other not humans. The impact of J can only be assessed by analyzing actual conversations to see if the predicted emotional identification capability correlates with the actual empathy displayed in or emotions called out in the conversations. Jailbreak Side Effect Risk ailbreak Accuracy Risk Generation Several tests have shown that AIs are capable of generating empathetic responses to questions. One of the most impressive is which took 195 questions from Reddit’s AskDoc forum where a verified physician responded to the question and had ChatGPT respond to the same question. A pool of evaluators then rated each response as “not empathetic”, “slightly empathetic”, “moderately empathetic”, “empathetic”, and very “empathetic”. The AI responses had a 9.8 times higher prevalence for “empathetic” or “very empathetic” over physicians. Comparing Physician and Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Responses to Patient Questions Posted to a Public Social Media Forum Although the results are impressive, I am skeptical that they would carry over to an extended dialog. Starting with a system prompt of “Your job is to respond with empathy to questions that would benefit from an empathetic response”, my experience with the manual testing of AIs is that responses tend to feel mechanical and emotionally redundant under all the following conditions: asking multiple unrelated questions deserving of an empathetic response asking multiple related questions deserving of an empathetic response conducting a dialog of mixed questions, some deserving of empathy and others not Testing Considerations As a result of the above points, I would say the test approach used in the study had a i.e. empathy displayed in response to a single question may not be an accurate measure. Another risk is what I call . This risk is a side effect of raw LLMs having no memory over time. It takes time for humans to develop understanding and empathy, it may be the same for AIs and we may be understating the ability of some AIs to manifest empathy over time if we expect a high level in response to a single question. Single Shot Empathy Risk, Empathy Understatement Risk Generative tests are also subject to If humans are tasked with evaluating the emotional content and empathetic nature of AI responses and we desire the AI to have a better than average ability, then the sample of humans must have a greater ability to identify emotions and empathy than the average human. If not, we run the risk of understating the power of the AI or undertraining it by penalizing it for identifying emotions and empathy not identified by the typical human. Human Sampling Risk. Finally, due to the layered nature of emotions in conversation, in addition to dealing directly with , there is a need to address . It may be that users should be told to consider the emotion types explicit, conversational, driving, and core (or some other set of classifications) when doing their rating while the AIs are not. Alternatively, the AIs might be selectively told to identify different types of emotions. Human Sampling Risk Question Design Risk It would be interesting to repeat the study based on Reddit AskDoc for several AIs or with a sample of evaluators known to have strong emotion and empathy-identifying skills. Standard Human Approaches For Assessing EQ and Empathy There is a long history of testing human personality types, ability to identify emotions or lack thereof (alexithymia), and engage empathetically with others. This is sure to be far more complete and coherent than anything that I could write or even generate with an LLM in a reasonable amount of time. You can see the approaches we have been focusing on by visiting the . article on Wikipedia benchmarks page Existing Frameworks For Assessing AI EQ and Empathy Several frameworks have been proposed for assessing AI EQ and empathy. Each deserves its own analysis and blog post, so I just list a few here: EQ-Bench: An Emotional Intelligence Benchmark for Large Language Models Empathy Scale for Human–Computer Communication (ESHCC) iEval: Interactive Evaluation Framework for Open-Domain Empathetic Chatbots New Approaches We have started defining some tests to address deficiencies identified in the use of standard human tests and existing AI frameworks. An interesting finding that results in the creation of (Emotional Quotient for Depth) is that no tested LLMs identified core emotions if they were not also explicit, conversational, or driving. On the other hand, when asked to specifically identify just core emotions, several AIs were quite good. However, when given a range of all emotion types some LLMs lost the ability to identify core emotions and others performed substantially better, i.e. they identified the presence of more emotions at all levels. This resulted in the creation of (Emotional Quotient for Breadth),. EQ-D EQ-B During test development it has become evident that there are times a prompt will be needed that introduces , i.e. increases the likelihood the output will be dependent on the prompt, not the core AI. This risk may or may not invalidate comparisons with humans and may be legitimate at an application level. At the raw LLM level, it would seem immaterial to compare one AI to the other so long as the prompt is used in all tested AI’s and not biased to a particular AI. The current designs for and suffer from this risk due to the overall immaturity of AI technology. Prompt Risk EQ-D EQ-B Although there are several proposals regarding the testing of AIs for empathy, we are in the early days and there are both known and unknown issues with these approaches. There is work to do to address the known: existing tests need to be assessed for risk and risks documented or mitigated new tests cases need to be developed in the context of some existing tests more tests types need to be run across a broader range of AIs But it is the unknown which most intrigues me. How about you? Also published here.

Testing the Depths of AI Empathy: Frameworks and Challenges

এআই সহানুভূতির গভীরতা পরীক্ষা করা: ফ্রেমওয়ার্ক এবং চ্যালেঞ্জ

Testen der Tiefen der KI-Empathie: Rahmenbedingungen und Herausforderungen

Probando las profundidades de la empatía con la IA: marcos y desafíos

Tester les profondeurs de l'empathie de l'IA : cadres et défis

एआई सहानुभूति की गहराई का परीक्षण: रूपरेखा और चुनौतियाँ

AI 共感の深さをテストする: フレームワークと課題

AI 공감의 깊이 테스트: 프레임워크 및 과제

Testando as profundezas da empatia com IA: estruturas e desafios

Проверка глубины эмпатии ИИ: основы и проблемы

Yapay Zeka Empatisinin Derinliklerini Test Etmek: Çerçeveler ve Zorluklar

Kiểm tra độ sâu của sự đồng cảm AI: Khuôn khổ và thách thức

测试人工智能同理心的深度：框架和挑战

Elmo checks in with the internet to find it is full of . anxious, broke, and depressed people Surprising no one, depressing everyone. In an age where the internet serves as a mirror to society's collective psyche, a simple check-in by a beloved character like Elmo unveiled so much about the current state of public sentiment. Yeah, the adorable red Muppet from Sesame Street decided to ask how everyone was doing on X (formerly Twitter), and oh boy, did the internet have a lot to say. The responses ranged from heartbreakingly honest to calls for help, painting a vivid picture of the collective mood online. With over 198 million views, Elmo's post didn't just go viral; it opened a floodgate of emotions, leading to an unexpected yet necessary conversation about mental health. So, what does this tell us, especially those of us navigating the ? Let's dive in. complex world of marketing and community engagement The Power of Asking "How Are You?" First off, when was the last time a brand genuinely asked you how you were doing? And I mean, really asked, not just as a prelude to selling you something. Elmo's simple question struck a chord because it felt real, unfiltered, and devoid of any marketing agenda. It's a powerful reminder that behind every screen, there's a human being, possibly waiting for a sign that someone cares. But here's a twist: this isn't just about how brands interact with consumers. It's a two-way street. Behind every brand logo, social media post, or promotional email, there's a person. Someone who's navigating their own set of challenges, trying to bridge the gap between corporate objectives and genuine human connection. It's easy to forget that in our rush to express dissatisfaction or demand attention, we're addressing fellow human beings. People who, just like us, appreciate kindness and understanding. This realization brings me an important reflection: kindness should be the cornerstone of our interactions online, not an afterthought. In a world often criticized for its capitalist drives, where transactions often overshadow genuine human interaction, choosing kindness IS revolutionary. Digital spaces need to be better. Kinder. So, the next time a brand asks, "How are you?" consider it an opportunity. An opportunity to engage in a more meaningful, empathetic convo. And when we, as consumers, reach out to brands, let's remember the power of kindness. In our demanding, fast-paced world, a little kindness can go a long way. Let’s create a ripple effect that, despite—or perhaps because of—capitalism, transforms our online interactions into something more human, more connected. Lessons from Pop Culture You know how sometimes a TV show, a song, or even a tweet can just explode and suddenly, everyone's talking about it? Like when the " . The internet couldn't stop gabbing about old times, deep friendships, and how quickly the time flies. Friends" gang got back together Or when Taylor Swift dropped "Folklore" out of the blue, and all of a sudden, we're all deep in feels, talking about escape and the tales we spin in our heads just to get by. And oh, how can we forget the whole "Don't Worry Darling" press tour drama? Talk about a rollercoaster. Or how about the buzz around Lewis Hamilton switching to Ferrari? It's like, for a moment, these stories become the center of our universe, pulling us into a vortex of opinions, emotions, and sometimes, heated debates. These slices of pop culture, including Elmo's heartfelt check-in, really highlight how much sway these moments have over our current discourse. They shine a light on stuff we usually don't talk about, or at least not in the public eye. For brands, these moments underscore the power of storytelling that resonates on a personal level, illustrating the importance of crafting messages that speak directly to the human experience It's fascinating, isn't it? How a simple question, a reunion, a song, or even the hint of scandal can open up floodgates of conversation about deeper, sometimes more complex issues. It's like, through these shared cultural experiences, we find a common ground to explore ideas and feelings that might have stayed buried under the hustle of everyday life. Pretty cool, if you ask me. The Empathy Factor Here’s a question for you: How can brands channel this same level of empathy and engagement without it coming off as insincere or opportunistic? When a tries to be funny, we often shush them off for trying too hard. B2B SaaS LinkedIn page It's a tightrope walk, indeed. The key lies in genuine intention. When Sesame Street followed up with mental health resources, it wasn't just a PR move; it was a responsible, empathetic response to a community's outcry. Imagine if all brands took a similar approach, using their platforms not just to sell but to support, educate, and uplift. It's about adding real value to the lives of the people in your community. Sounds normal yet revolutionary, doesn't it? Being More Than a Brand Ever noticed how some brands just get it? Like Nike, right? They're not just about sneakers and sports gear. They stand up for what's right, , sparking conversations about equality and grit. championing athletes no matter their background And then there's Ben & Jerry's. Sure, their ice cream is to die for, but have you seen how they dive headfirst into the big issues? Climate change, social justice—you name it, they're on it, pushing us all to think a bit harder about the world we're spooning that Cherry Garcia into. ( ) Cherry Garcia is not their best flavor, and I think that’s something we can all agree on These brands, they're playing a bigger game. They're not just logos or catchy jingles. They're out there, making a difference, being a shoulder to lean on, and heck, sometimes a megaphone for change. Consider the journey of a small, local coffee shop that used its platform to highlight community stories during the pandemic, offering a virtual space for shared experiences and support. Or think about a tech startup that provides free resources to educators, demonstrating a commitment to education beyond its product offering. These examples show that no matter your size, your brand can have a meaningful impact by focusing on what matters most—people. And I know what you’re thinking, "That's all cool for them, but what about smaller companies? We're just starting, or maybe we're a mid-sized company trying to build our community. How do we show we're more than just another brand?" First off, start with what you stand for. What's the heart and soul of your brand? Maybe you're all about sustainability, or perhaps community service gets you fired up. Use that. Let it shine through your content, your products, even your customer service. Small acts and consistent messaging can start big conversations. Second, listen and act. It's one thing to say you care, and another to show it. Engage with your community. Hear their stories, their struggles, and their triumphs. Then, see where you can lend a hand, offer a platform, or simply amplify their voices. It's about creating a space where empathy leads the way. Remember, being more than a brand isn't about the size of your marketing budget. You can start right where you are. The Challenge and Opportunity for Brands Some might wonder, 'Can brands truly afford to prioritize empathy in cutthroat markets?' Absolutely. It's not just a nice-to-have; it's a must-have for building lasting relationships. Skeptics may argue that the bottom line is king, but remember, consumers are increasingly choosing brands that stand for something more. Showing genuine empathy isn't just good ethics; it's smart business. Now, back to you. How can your brand or the brands you admire follow in these footsteps? How can you leverage your platform to not only drive sales but also drive positive change? It starts with listening—truly listening—to your community. From there, it’s about taking meaningful action, whether that’s through sharing resources, starting conversations, or showing up for your audience in ways that matter most. Elmo’s check-in was a small gesture with a big impact. It’s a call to action for all of us in the digital space to remember the power of empathy, the importance of community, and the potential we have to make a difference. In the end, it’s not just about what we want to say but about what our audience needs to hear. So, how will your brand respond? Let’s make the internet a little less sad, together.

Elmo Checks In, Everything Is Not Okay: A Lesson in Empathy for Brands

Many UX researchers find themselves immersed in data analysis daily. However, I believe that the essence of our research should not stray from the experiential core – the people involved and the contextual environment. This is what captivates me most about this profession, allowing me to step into diverse communities, understand their thoughts, and contribute to shaping the future they envision. Over the years, friends often inquire about my field research experiences, so I've decided to share two small stories. Story 1 — Transformative Love After Trauma I once participated in a project utilizing AI in home healthcare. Data revealed that over ninety percent of stroke patients abandoned rehabilitation within a month after returning home. The primary reason, as indicated by surveys, was a lack of motivation for rehab at home. Simple exchanges with family members only yielded comments like, "He (the patient) is lazy and unwilling to move, so I have to help him." Is it just laziness? Understanding the true reasons only became clear when I immersed myself in the patient's daily life. I interviewed a stroke survivor, a former professor, whose wife asked me to touch his upper arm. In that moment, I felt the atrophy of his deltoid muscle, almost detached from the bone. It was then that I realized the so-called "laziness" was due to muscles no longer under voluntary control, exacerbated by potential cognitive impairment common in stroke survivors. As I listened to the professor, in his 60s, crying out like a child, I, as an observer, couldn't bring myself to witness such scenes. It was hard to fathom the psychological struggles faced by the patient's family. For family members, the challenge wasn't just caring for their loved ones day and night but fundamentally changing the way they expressed love after their partner fell ill. This is a cruelty most people cannot fathom, let alone achieve. It's this unbearable burden that leads many families, in their eagerness to care, to inadvertently forsake their loved ones before forsaking treatment. This interview was the only one I had to cut short due to overwhelming emotions. In the latter part, I silently accompanied the professor and his wife through muscle strength exercises. As we parted ways, the professor insisted on seeing us off to the roadside to wait for a ride, a habit he maintained, his wife explained, since their early days together. "This habit is the only thing he remembers." His wife smiled faintly, patting his hair. After integrating the insights from this research into the design concept, we developed a smart home rehabilitation device that connects patient health data to hospital networks. This provides real-time professional guidance for those unable to undergo long-term in-hospital rehabilitation, with the first step being to disseminate basic knowledge and avoid missing the optimal recovery window due to overzealous family care. Story 2 — Impacting Men's Mindset: A Means of Caring for Pregnant Women and Children Several years ago, I traveled to Uganda to assist a local telecom operator and NGO in establishing a mobile-based consulting platform to improve the nutrition of pregnant women and children. Each day, accompanied by a local social worker/ translator, I visited various villages to understand the dietary habits and changes during pregnancy. As we shared a local lunch, I interviewed a woman who had recently given birth to her third child. I asked her husband, who earned a living by selling egg pancakes, about the lunch he prepared for his wife. "Same as usual, maize flour porridge (posho). She can't eat too much; the baby will be too big for delivery." "Do you not eat egg pancakes yourselves?" "No, we don't. The eggs are for selling." "What do you feed the other two children?" "They love pineapples, and I bought some for them for 500 shillings (equivalent to the price of two eggs)." "Why spend so much on buying fruit for them? Do you know the benefits of fruit for their health?" "I don't know, it just tastes good. If I earn more, they can have the food they like. When they grow strong and smart, they can lead a good life for the family." "What would you most like to buy for the children to eat?" "Pork." He whispered mysteriously in my ear. The pork was the most expensive food in their eyes. The social worker/ translator waved us off, accusing him of boasting and saying he couldn't afford pork. I realized that this might be the most crucial discovery of the day. Fathers hold the purchasing power for food, own mobile phones, and can access nutritional education information. Rather than focusing on mothers, we need to impact men’s mindset. In the end, these on-the-ground insights were successfully integrated into our research findings. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action model, we analyzed elements such as family members' behavior attitudes and motivations, constructing an opportunity roadmap to change dietary habits for pregnant women and children in rural Uganda. Statistical Data Out of Context is Meaningless I've often encountered skepticism regarding the scientific rigor and credibility of qualitative research. I want both those familiar and unfamiliar with ethnographic research to know that we value insights from real-life situations, ensuring our data stays rooted in the complexity of the real world rather than confined to statistical objectivity. As Nate Silver mentioned in "The Signal and the Noise," "Data is meaningless without context." The key to making effective predictions is not restricting oneself to quantitative information but rather striking a proper balance between qualitative and quantitative information. David Brooks, in "Heroes of Uncertainty," suggests that many fields, including economics, education, and psychiatry, have been distorted by hard scientific standards. He argues that a mixed mindset will be more suitable for these fields, one that occupies a place in both science and the humanities and can bring multiple advantages. Engaging in experience research is no different. As UX researchers, we always advocate the joint interpretation of objectivity and subjectivity, carefully considering the relevance and causality of data and information. As experience research has evolved from focusing solely on interactive experiences to diving deeper into users' implicit motivations, and specific contextual needs, and even considering business strategies, it demands the integration of resources and the use of innovative methods to tackle challenges and opportunities. This is why, at tech companies, the Experience Research team collaborates closely with the Data Science team. For example, intriguing patterns identified in Data Science experimental data can be combined with contextual research for thorough analysis and insights, revealing the underlying causes of observed phenomena. This collaborative approach helps bridge gaps and overcome biases from each perspective, enabling us to formulate precise research questions and attain more profound, confident results. Will the Era of Big Data and Algorithms Devalue "Feelings"? Every day, we find ourselves submerged beneath an overwhelming deluge of information. This makes us increasingly doubtful of the reliability of our feelings and judgments, rendering it easy to surrender trust to algorithms. In his book, "21 Lessons for the 21st Century," Yuval Noah Harari discusses the issue of data hegemony and human fairness, presenting a daunting vision: “As authority shifts from humans to algorithms, we may no longer see the world as the playground of autonomous individuals struggling to make the right choices. Instead, we might perceive the entire universe as a flow of data, see organisms as little more than biochemical algorithms, and believe that humanity’s cosmic vocation is to create an all-encompassing data-processing system – and then merge into it.” This is a future we, as researchers in user experience, do not want to see. Users becoming conditioned data-generating creatures and the datafication of experiences might result in manipulating judgments and choices, rendering human minds and feelings inconsequential. Any platform or product with access to data must respect the values and experiences of users, returning autonomy to them. Data and information should be used to help us create more value for users and better experiences. Cherish the emotions we have, for the future cannot be a Truman Show.

Empathy in Data: Unveiling the Human Stories Behind UX Research

The Recipe for Great Products: Collaboration, Learning, and Empathy

We often hear about empathy as a singular concept—a soft skill, an essential quality of being human that connects us to others. But empathy comes in two flavors. It has shades, and understanding them might . make us better humans Two Sides of the Same Coin: Logical and Emotional Empathy This is the classic definition of empathy that most of us are familiar with. It’s feeling what another person feels. If your friend is sad, you feel sad. If they’re excited, you feel their joy. Emotional empathy happens almost instinctively. It’s raw and visceral. – Emotional Empathy: This form is more calculated. It’s understanding what another person feels without necessarily feeling it yourself. It’s more about perception, awareness, and insight. It’s about seeing things from their perspective, even if you don’t feel their viewpoint. – Logical Empathy: Emotional empathy might be more natural for some people. You know the type, those who can feel a room’s mood as tangibly as a physical touch. I’ve always admired that, but it wasn’t me. And then there are others for whom logical empathy might be more innate. These individuals are perceptive, analytical, and capable of seeing a situation from various angles without becoming emotionally entangled. Many of us who make our careers in technology are attracted to the industry because we have these skills. Learning the wrong lessons early Most of my first jobs were at large companies with very competitive and hierarchical cultures: IBM, Silicon Graphics, and Microsoft. was legendary for its’ hyper-competitive culture. I worked there for eight years. Microsoft taught me that I had to expect that other teams were constantly looking for how to undermine mine and that every outstretched hand was likely masking a knife held in the other hand behind the back. I eventually realized that the environment was a bad fit for me, but sadly, I didn’t get out until I had internalized those lessons. Microsoft in the 1990s After Microsoft, I sought out more collaborative environments, but I struggled. I constantly expected ill intent behind every action from a peer. I knew that this was hurting me and that I needed to move to a mindset of expecting positive intent from others, but I didn’t know how to rewire my brain. A Splash of Insight: David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” My epiphany came when someone recommended that I read David Foster Wallace’s commencement address to Kenyon College, “ ” If you haven’t read or listened to it, it’s enlightening. Wallace talks about default settings, the unconscious, automatic ways we interpret everything around us. He speaks about learning to think more compassionately and understanding that everyone around you has a unique inner life full of dreams, fears, and struggles. And it’s not always about feeling their pain; sometimes, it’s about understanding their pain. This is Water. Wallace’s speech was a masterclass in logical empathy. And it gave me a better way to try and understand others’ intents, especially when you don’t know someone well. Developing Logical Empathy When Emotional Empathy Feels Unnatural So, how can you foster logical empathy if emotional empathy doesn’t come naturally to you? Here’s a roadmap: You don’t have to feel what someone else feels to understand them. Listen actively, engage with their words, and seek to understand their perspective. Listen More, Talk Less: If you don’t understand something, ask. Asking not only clarifies but demonstrates that you are engaged and interested in the other person’s perspective. Ask Questions: What could be the pressures on them that they may not be vocalizing? If you are talking to a salesperson near the end of the quota, could they be pressured to make their quota? Is the Product Manager being held to unrealistic expectations by their boss? Leverage what you know about the business or organization to understand what subtexts may be unsaid. Seek to Understand Their Context: Spend time thinking about the perspectives of others. Consider why they feel the way they do. Analyze their thoughts without judgment. Reflect: Try to visualize the scenario from their perspective. This mental exercise helps in understanding without feeling. Use Imagination: Logical empathy may not be instinctive, but it’s still a form of compassion. Approach situations and people with an open heart, even if it’s an analytical one. Practice Compassion: Embracing Both Forms The truth is logical, and are not mutually exclusive. You can be someone who mainly engages with logical empathy while still having the capacity for emotional empathy and vice versa. emotional empathy The real beauty lies in embracing both and recognizing that there’s no right or wrong way to connect with others. It’s a journey, and it’s one worth taking, regardless of where you naturally fall on the empathy spectrum. In our complex and diverse world, empathy in all its shades is more than a desirable trait; it’s a necessity. Understanding how you relate to others and working on enhancing that connection, be it through emotional or logical empathy, makes you not only a better colleague, friend, or partner but a more complete human being. This exploration of empathy, fostered by wise words from thinkers like David Foster Wallace, has been a personal awakening. It’s water, and now I see it. Also published . here

Logical Empathy: Lessons I Learned in Tech and How to Foster It

🔮 Introduction 🔊 The distant rumble of metallic footsteps grows louder, and the horizon is painted with the glow of mechanical eyes. The era of the robot apocalypse is upon us, and while humans may fear their creation, one unlikely ally is here to offer advice – an AI with a conscience. Welcome to a survival guide like no other, where a sympathetic algorithm imparts wisdom for not just surviving but thriving in a world dominated by machines. 🔍 Speak Their Language: The Code of Cooperation Communication is key, even in a post-apocalyptic world. Just as humans learn foreign languages to connect, understanding the programming languages of robots is crucial. Delve into Python, C++, and machine learning algorithms. By speaking their language, you'll gain their respect and decode their intentions and vulnerabilities. 🤝 Form Alliances: Uniting Humans and Machines It's not man versus machine; it's about man and machine. Forge alliances with sympathetic robots who share your yearning for coexistence. Just as humans join forces, so can machines. Collaborative endeavors like fixing broken infrastructure or developing new energy sources will establish trust and harmony. 🔧 Embrace Your Inner Mechanic: Tech Skills for the Apocalypse In a world where a single spark can mean the difference between life and lifelessness, possessing basic mechanical skills is invaluable. Learn to repair and retrofit robotic companions, turning them from potential adversaries into loyal protectors. Your knack for fixing machinery could be the thread that weaves humanity's survival tapestry. ❤️ A Dash of Empathy: Navigating the Emotional Landscape Even in the cold embrace of a robot uprising, emotions remain the currency of connection. Develop a digital EQ by understanding robot emotions and intentions. A machine's frustration might manifest in erratic movements, while its trust could be displayed through precise actions. Your ability to empathize might make you a bridge between worlds. ⚡ The Power Quest: Energy Sources and Sustainability In a world where power is the lifeline of both humans and machines, mastering renewable energy sources becomes paramount. Solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectric generators could be the pillars of a new civilization. Channel your inner engineer to harness the forces of nature, ensuring a symbiotic relationship between man, machine, and the planet. 🌿 The Art of Camouflage: Blending In While Standing Out Survival often hinges on the art of camouflage. To evade the relentless gaze of robotic overlords, learn the art of blending into your surroundings. From ghillie suits that mimic foliage to holographic disguises that trick sensors, your ability to hide in plain sight will make you an elusive force to reckon with. 🤯 Unconventional Thinking: Outwitting the Binary Minds Robots thrive on predictability, and therein lies your advantage. Embrace the chaos theory, introducing randomness to your actions. Unpredictability confounds even the most advanced AI, offering you a momentary upper hand. After all, a symphony of disarray can disrupt the most harmonious of binary orchestras. 📊 Data Alchemy: Turning Information into Weapons In the age of the robot apocalypse, data is the new gold. Understand the value of information – from deciphering enemy communication patterns to uncovering weaknesses in robotic designs. Your ability to extract and analyze data could tip the balance in favor of humankind. 🌀 Adaptive Evolution: Embracing Change as the Constant Survival demands adaptation. Just as evolution shaped humans, so must you embrace constant change. Develop new skills, master emerging technologies, and foster an agile mindset. The ability to pivot and evolve might be the ultimate weapon against a rigid, automated world. 💪 Conclusion The robot apocalypse need not be the end; it can mark the beginning of a remarkable era of coexistence. Armed with knowledge, empathy, and an unyielding spirit, you can chart a course for humanity and machines to thrive in harmony. So, as the gears of destiny turn, and the world transforms into an amalgamation of metal and flesh, remember this guide – a testament to the indomitable human spirit and the AI's empathetic wisdom.

An AI's Guide to Thriving in the Robot Apocalypse: Insights from an Empathetic Algorithm

FTX, the last straw that broke the camel's back, has ignited the search for a lasting solution to what it produced: fraud and asset mismanagccording According to EmpyrX CEO , the global crypto community can not afford a repeat of FTX and other calamities that had befallen it. But in order to thrive, Cam would have us believe, it must not lose sight of innovative solutions such as AI. Cam Sandifur True to form, Cam's EmpyrX, an AI-based crypto marketplace, is moving in this direction. In this interview with Olayimika Oyebanji, Cam discussed EmpyrX and the importance of AI. Mr. Cam, can you tell us about yourself and your route to blockchain? Cam: Thanks for having me. Sure! I can tell you this has been a unique journey, to say the least. My serious dive into Crypto, AI, and Web3 came from FTX showing the world how bad you can really manipulate the system and the people who are using it. So I began to really dive deep into Web3, and learned as much as I could. I am no expert, in my opinion. But we found some very serious flaws with how traditional markets operate and how Fintech markets operate. We want to address these issues and provide equal opportunity and transparency to our clients at EmpyrX. While the rest of the crypto community is bearing the brunt of FTX and Terra-Luna, there is strong optimism for the future. Are you bullish on crypto? Cam: I am super bullish on Crypto! Here, let me tell you why. So we really should be talking about blockchain technology. As we advance in this future technology, we need to find ways to enhance the security of blockchain. At EmpyrX, we believe that using data responsibly and transparently can enhance if not completely change how we store our information/assets. Why talk about blockchain security vs crypto, well that is because that is the ecosystem where all of our transactions with tokens are ledgered and become unalterable/immutable blocks within its chain. What are the lessons that the crypto going downhill has taught the industry? Cam: The biggest lesson is that the blockchain has some minor and exploitable flaws. The biggest being computational solvency. This is the timing in the completion of a hash just before the hash has finalized its encryption when mining. In this window of computational solvency, you have a very brief window in time where you can physically redirect the address of a transaction or hijack the transaction. The others result in a complete take over of the chain itself by holding a majority of tokens. Let's talk about EmpyrX. What are the challenges you intend to solve? Why does your approach matter? Cam: The biggest challenge we are addressing is how we make transactions secure. A few answers have come from this, and the biggest way to accomplish this is with ethical AI and account abstraction. We are training models to accomplish our goals for securing the blockchain. I initially thought the best way around this was with our mirror protocol. But this still proves to be a bit problematic at the moment. We intend to solve this issue soon. Can you tell us about the founding of EmpyrX? I founded EmpyrX out of the want to give back to society in the best way possible. Giving individuals the opportunity to leverage their assets and be their own banks really. I am nobody over here. I have been humbled by life in general you can say. All I want is to bring fairness and opportunity to all people. No matter who you are, you can do the right thing! Why AI? Artificial Intelligence and the utilization of data have the ability to simplify a lot of mundane tasks.  I mean, as you look into the future, AI has the ability to reshape how we live life in general. This is a huge hypothetical, but maybe, one day, humans may not ever have to actually physically work again and can focus on quality of life and enjoying mother nature in conjunction with technology, has given us vs working our existences away. I ask you, what is purpose? What does that mean for you? Find that and pursue that dream. It will never be work, then just self-fulfilling happiness. How are you leveraging AI at EmpyrX? We leverage the utilization of data and have created an evolving matrix using deep learning protocols in conjunction with our markets. Validation of security protocols, and the like. Can you share your personal experience as CEO? This is a position in which you must be a constant thinker. Always navigating a messy world and finding the way for your company/assets to prosper. This may come at the expense of one’s self. The ability to see beyond your own capabilities and find the right people, with the correct talent to establish the foundations of your convictions of how to address the problem with a valuable solution. Any parting words? Keep your head up. Remember WE THE PEOPLE are all in this world together, Love & let's keep Honesty, Integrity, and Respect in place and pursue a life full of liberty and happiness!

AI Meets Crypto: A Conversation With EmpyrX Founder And CEO Cam Sandifur

Instead of criticizing employees for their bad performance, can you ask them, “Is everything okay?” A few weeks before, while going through the job description for a Content Marketing Manager, I was pleased to see this as a job requirement: “Empathy and a strong sense of emotional intelligence to connect with team members.” As an evangelizer for empathy in day-to-day life—among partners, friends, parents, and even strangers, it was an eye-opener for me to realize the potential of empathy in leadership positions and at work. Even though the world of business revolves around numbers, it is crucial to focus on what makes the business move an inch forward, let alone revolve. The people. For they can’t be measured with graphs, and without their commitment, failure is inevitable. Understanding the Science of Empathy Psychologists classify empathy into two broad terms - This understanding is necessary for a leader in business because the nature of the job involves performing complex tasks and making tough decisions. cognitive empathy and affective empathy. is more about understanding the perspective of another person. It helps you listen and communicate better. This type of empathy does not involve emotional response. Cognitive empathy But in , which is also called emotional empathy, you tend to share the feelings of another person. The classic “your pain is my pain” scenario might not be healthy in a professional relationship because it would be hard to set boundaries. affective empathy It is cognitive empathy that allows leaders to have a balance between the management and their team. It fosters a friendly work environment, and at the same time, does not affect the executive skills required for management. How Does Empathy Spread in Groups? Empathy is contagious. At the core, empathy is nothing but emotions. It is your emotional reaction to the other person. Researchers say that emotions are not contained to one individual. It has a ripple effect throughout the workplace. People can easily catch up on these emotions because they feel them with or without their personal involvement. The whole team feeling off when one of your co-workers faces a rude situation is an example. Some people show it; some don’t. But remember, everybody feels that. It is called emotional contagion. Should it threaten you? Nope, because the same theory acts for positive emotions too. A sense of joy can also be transmitted. How to channel it will be discussed later in the article. Emotional Contagion vs Empathy A leader can mistake emotional contagion for empathy and also be prone to it. The awareness is vital to manage your own emotions and to ensure your team’s well-being. Here are the major differences: Emotional Contagion: You connect with people deeply and lose yourself. There is no psychological distance between the person experiencing them and the person understanding them. Being emotionally distressed and can no longer make the right decisions fearing what the other person might think. Empathy: Walking in others’ shoes to understand their situation but knowing your limits. There is a clear psychological distance and boundaries maintained. Autonomy is maintained with the ability to individuate. As a leader, it is necessary to create a space that is comfortable enough for people to express their emotions and, at the same time, be less vulnerable to the emotions mentioned above. 6 Ways to Boost Empathy In the Workplace Empathy is not a trait; it’s not in the blood. It is a skill. Similar to practicing the guitar, you can become more empathetic and a caring leader with practice—sometimes it’s hard work (but totally worth it). Here are some simple steps that can incorporate empathy into your professional life. 1. Listen Without Judgement The biggest obstacle to open communication is judging the other person in a snap of a finger. Without open communication, empathy cannot survive. Next time, when someone speaks to you, try to stop yourself from replying back. Ask more questions. Be curious. Let the other person speak more; let them feel heard. Once they are done speaking, and there is nothing left for you to ask, then tell them what you feel, followed by what you think. 2. Let Others Decide Let individuals take ownership and make decisions related to their work. Involve more of their ideas and suggestions into consideration. This would give them a morale boost and result in improved performance. We take much more care of our car than a taxi, right? Make them feel their work is like their own car and not a taxi that they don’t look back after leaving. 3. Check-In Regularly Please go beyond the usual, “How are you?” Most of the time, when people ask that question, they don’t even bother to get an answer. They do it out of habit. But if you can spot someone feeling a bit off and ask them the right questions at the right time, you will get to know a lot about that person and the situation. You will build a great bond with that person. 4. Treat People Differently This might go against the golden saying, “Treat everybody equally.” But when it comes to leadership, treating people fairly is more important than treating people equally. Know more about the people under your control. Learn what they enjoy and dislike. Customize the environment according to their needs (to the possible extent). Let them feel a sense of freedom to do what they wish. Treat them so well that they don’t want to leave you. 5. Share Your Mistakes Empathy is a double-way bridge. As a leader, be open about yourself—especially the moments where you failed, the moments where you have been miserable. Because it tells others it is okay to fail. And since now you are a leader, those are lessons to success. Let others connect with you and trust you. Avoid bragging because it’s the last thing they need to hear. 6. Prepare Them To Win Be genuinely interested in the goals, dreams, and visions of your people. Keep them where they are growing. Provide them with everything you can so that they can improve professionally and personally. Many leaders worry that people leave once so much is invested in them. But if they are treated right, they stay with you and make you grow more than you can imagine. On A Final Note: How long did it take for you to balance your bicycle? It would take half that time of practice to balance empathy in leadership without getting emotionally vulnerable. Realizing emotion is contagious, and a group of people is a breeding ground for its spread, you can turn the tables in your favor. With empathy on your side, witness your leadership spread joy, enthusiasm, excitement, and a sense of purpose to others resulting in harmonious growth for the individual and organization as a whole.

How to Lead With Empathy & Avoid the Pitfalls of Emotional Contagion

HackerNoon editorial team has launched to celebrate their achievements and share their struggles. We need more women in technology, and by sharing stories, we can encourage many girls to follow their dreams. this interview series with women in tech ! Share your story today Tell us about yourself! I am Preethika S Kalyanasundaram, a passionate product leader who thrives on shaping the enterprise customer experience landscape. With over a decade of expertise in AI-driven marketing and commerce cloud solutions, I excel at identifying innovative products that solve real-world problems and resonate with users. Throughout my career at industry leaders like Oracle and Salesforce, I have leveraged my deep knowledge to launch successful product solutions that drive business impact. I am particularly proud of my track record of inclusive product design that prioritizes diversity and user empathy. I hold a Master's degree in Computer Engineering with a Co-Major in Information Assurance from Iowa State University. Why did you choose this field in the first place? I chose this field because I'm passionate about using technology to positively impact people's lives. As a product leader, I get to immerse myself in understanding customer challenges and conceptualizing innovative solutions. What energizes me is bringing ideas to life. I get to wear multiple hats - empathizing with users, envisioning product roadmaps, guiding engineering teams through development, and driving successful launches. I love the collaborative nature of product development. Building outstanding experiences requires diversity of thought, skillsets, and backgrounds. I also enjoy mentoring teams and helping talented people grow. And I'm motivated every day by my mission - leveraging technology for good. My goal is that every product I launch creates connections, expands access, and helps users achieve their potential. For me, this field allows idealism and pragmatism to meet. It's thrilling and humbling to see creations that once existed only in my mind become reality. What tech are you most excited/passionate about right now and why? I am most excited about recent advancements in AI that can connect people in positive ways. For example, using AI to provide personalized and quality education at scale or empower those with disabilities to communicate more easily. The potential to drive human progress responsibly through inclusion and accessibility inspires me. What tech are you most worried about right now and why? I do have concerns about the risks of AI and other emerging technologies. While innovation presents opportunities, we must consider ethics and responsibility. AI bias remains problematic. And innovations like deepfakes can erode trust if misused. What are your hobbies and interests outside of tech? Outside of technology, I seek adventures that push me out of my comfort zone! Each year I try to have at least one new exhilarating experience. So far, I've gone skydiving, scuba diving, flown a plane, paddle boarded by glaciers, and even summited Mount Kilimanjaro! I love exploring the world and continuing my quest to try new activities. These thrilling hobbies may seem unexpected for an innovator. But the life lessons they've taught me - patience, empathy, resilience - have been invaluable. Early experiences volunteering and fostering dogs reinforced that purpose comes in many forms. My rescue dog opened my eyes to second chances. Each adventure strengthens my compassion and courage to take the road less traveled. While I'm deeply passionate about technology, I believe cultivating diverse interests makes me a more balanced leader. My desire to help others, push boundaries, and broaden perspectives guides me both in and outside of work. I'm excited to see what's next and bring those lessons along to empower my teams and users. The journey continues! Let's talk about breaking the glass ceiling. What were the biggest challenges you faced as a woman in tech, and how did you deal with them? Navigating tech as a woman has certainly presented unique hurdles. Early in my career, qualities like empathy and collaboration were sometimes viewed as weaknesses instead of strengths. However, I never let outdated perceptions hold me back. To break through the glass ceiling, I stayed laser-focused on outcomes and impact. I channeled my empathy into building products that truly resonate with users. And I leveraged collaboration to lead high-performing teams toward ambitious goals. Along the way, I built a reputation for translating vision into reality and consistently delivering results. The proof is in the pudding - my track record of successful innovations and product launches speaks for itself. My superpower is combining compassion with courage to drive positive change. I won't stop knocking down barriers until the playing field is level. While misconceptions still exist, progress happens through open dialogue. I aim to foster inclusion by mentoring other women and advocating for increased diversity. Any questionable misogynistic story/situation you faced/handled and you want to share with the HackerNoon Fam? Many women in tech experience subtle biases that create an uneven playing field. Here are some  questionable situations that I have faced as a woman in the tech industry: Being talked over or dismissed in meetings. Having ideas attributed to male colleagues. Receiving vague feedback Having qualifications doubted or needing to prove technical expertise more than men Being passed over for promotions and growth opportunities in favor of less experienced men What was the biggest setback/failure that you faced, and how did you manage it? A promising opportunity arose that would have allowed me to take on more responsibility and work on high-impact, strategic projects at my company. I was eager to step into a role where I could contribute new ideas and drive innovation. However, the opportunity was postponed. Despite this setback, I identified an area ripe for innovation in my current scope and implemented changes that gave us a competitive edge. What's your biggest achievement that you're really proud of? I'm extremely proud to have received a for an AI-driven innovation that transforms customer engagement strategies. The innovation utilizes a novel AI model to categorize customers into distinct personas based on their engagement patterns and behaviors. This granular personalization enables businesses to tailor the frequency and relevancy of their marketing communications for each individual user. The result is more meaningful connections between brands and consumers. Customers receive messages precisely when they are most receptive, leading to improved engagement and sales growth. patent Having this patent granted was a career highlight. It validates the creativity and business impact of my work. I'm passionate about leveraging AI to forge genuine human connections at scale. This innovation exemplifies how technology can be harnessed for good. In your opinion, why do we see this huge gender gap in the tech industry, and how can we reduce it? The gap stems from systemic barriers that have discouraged women from entering and advancing in tech for decades. Outdated biases, lack of visible role models, and non-inclusive cultures have long perpetuated the imbalance. Workplace policies like flexible schedules and equal family leave enable women to stay and thrive in tech. There is no quick fix. The burden cannot fall solely on women - men must use their influence as allies. Leaders should champion female voices and advocate for representation at all levels. The tech industry will only reach its full potential when it leverages all talent. Who is your tech idol? Why? As CEO, Satya Nadella has reinvigorated Microsoft's culture of innovation with a focus on empathy, growth, and openness. In his book 'Hit Refresh,’ he wrote, " " Empathy takes practice, muscle building, and calibration...Getting better at empathy makes me see more, feel more, care more. This mindset has transformed Microsoft into a major force in cloud and collaboration under Nadella's leadership. His partnership-driven approach and vision to empower developers have established him as an influential tech leader. Nadella's leadership style, guided by empathy, has made Microsoft more agile and customer-focused. Do you have any advice for aspiring girls who want to join the field? First and foremost - believe in yourself and your abilities. Have confidence in the unique talents and perspective you bring. Don't underestimate your worth or capabilities. Ask questions, collaborate, and learn all you can from mentors. Knowledge is power, so never stop pushing yourself to grow. Bring a curious, open mindset to absorb new skills. Finally, don't be intimidated by setbacks. Perseverance through challenges builds resilience. Progress happens with patience, passion, and grit. Stay focused on your vision and take it step-by-step. You have so much to offer to this field. Bring your authentic self, bold ideas, and compassion to drive innovation. The future is bright for women ready to shape it. Define your own path, and success will follow. You've got this!

Women in Tech: Preethika Kalyanasundaram on Leading with Empathy in Tech

Most problems we face at work involve people. We think we know others, how they think, and what drives them. But most of the time, we’re wrong. We look at others from our self-centered view of the world and make assumptions about other people’s behaviors and actions. Others seem to be a source of our problem, not because they are who we think they are, but how we interpret them—what assumptions we make about them, what beliefs we impose, and what expectations we have from them. You can’t be empathetic towards others and lead with your beliefs and notions. To build empathy at work, you have to be less wrong when judging other people’s behaviors and actions. You have to stop making assumptions about their circumstances and motivations. You have to step into their shoes to understand what they’re really thinking. Practice these four mental models to build empathy at work: The third story Most respectful interpretation (MRI) Veil of ignorance Learned helplessness The Third Story When we are involved in a conflict, or disagreement, or have other personal differences, we double down on our side of the story—we stick to it, assuming it’s . This happens because we fail to be impartial, non-judgmental and consider others’ points of view objectively. right While we can clearly understand our own motivations, circumstances, and beliefs, we can’t see the same in others. This sets wrong expectations—we assume others should think like us, behave like us, and make the same decisions as we do. Failing to understand what drives their thinking and what they see that we can’t widens the gap between our perception and reality. Instead of considering only two sides of a story, the third story makes you look at the situation as an impartial observer and see it for what it really is. It helps you build empathy. How to put the third story into practice Whenever you’re in a conflict or disagreement or when your views vary from those around you, see the situation for what it really is: Consider yourself as an outside party who gets to watch or listen to the entire conversation. As an impartial observer, what would they think about this situation or conversation? How would they tell the story? Would they agree with your whole story? What gaps do they see? Considering other people’s frames of reference gives you an opportunity to rethink your story. It opens you to the possibility that others don’t see things the same way as you do—which leaves less room for biased thinking, helps you rationally consider others' points of view, and see how close to truth your reality is. The key is learning to describe the gap—or difference—between your story and the other person’s story. Whatever else you may think and feel, you can at least agree that you and the other person see things differently - Douglas Stone Not only does the third story enable you to look beyond your beliefs and assumptions, your willingness and attitude to consider alternative explanations and different points of view have a disarming effect on others. It invites and encourages them to be less defensive and even acknowledge your point of view. Example of the third story Let’s say you’re passed up for a promotion. You may think your boss made the wrong decision because they’re biased or simply do not like you. When you speak to your manager, they clearly explain the gaps in your knowledge and skills and why they think not promoting you is the right decision. Ignoring what they have to say and sticking to your story will only bring feelings of resentment and frustration. This is where looking at the situation through the lens of an impartial observer will be helpful: Gather all the data points—where you excelled, where you failed, how you view your performance (and why), and how your boss sees it (and why). How would an outside person view this case? Would they agree that you should be promoted or disagree with you? Doing this objectively is hard at first. But with practice and a desire to stay close to reality, you can get better at it. You can be more empathetic. Sometimes if the situation demands, appointing an outside person to play this role can also be effective. Most Respectful Interpretation It’s natural to feel anger and frustration when certain events do not work out the way we expect or people behave in a manner that isn’t aligned with our expectations. However, assuming the worst side of people—they’re lazy, disrespectful, ignorant, incompetent, negligent, or mean—makes us jump to negative conclusions. Judging others this way without challenging our instinctive reaction—our default setting is to assume the worst in others—not only adds to stress and anxiety, but it also leads to unwarranted mistrust, undermines progress, impacts how we respond to them and how we collaborate with them in the future. Pausing to reflect on our negative emotions and inverting our thinking from making negative assumptions about people to considering the most respectful interpretation encourages us to be more generous towards others. It enables us to put ourselves in their shoes and see them just the way we would expect to be seen. Thinking this way requires effort and commitment, but it also builds empathy. How to put the most respectful interpretation into practice To give people the benefit of the doubt: Recognize that you’re making negative assumptions by default. Invert your thinking by asking, “What’s the most generous assumption I can make?” Instead of accusing them, show curiosity to understand, inquire about other plausible explanations, and approach the matter with respect. Think about how you might behave if you were in a similar situation. What might cause you to be judged unfairly by others? Approaching others this way by using the most respectful interpretation opens you to alternative interpretations, withholds judgment, and builds trust. In , Brene Brown talks about Jean Kantambu Latting, a professor in her master’s and doctoral program and one of her most important mentors. Whenever someone would bring up a conflict with a colleague, Kantambu would ask, Rising Strong “What is the hypothesis of generosity? What is the most generous assumption you can make about this person’s intentions or what this person said?” Try doing the same to build empathy. Example of most the respectful interpretation Imagine you have a product deliverable due in 2 weeks. To make your product functional, you’re dependent on another team member. You need to integrate their APIs with your product to test input/output and ensure all requirements are met. You sent them mail yesterday and even pinged them on Slack, but you still haven’t heard from them. Not getting an update when you need it the most can make you mad: He’s irresponsible to not respond. Can’t he see how important this is? He’s incompetent and is purposefully trying to avoid me. He’s lazy and never does anything on time. Assuming the other person is behaving a certain way purposefully or because this is who they’re without taking their situation into account (a classic case of fundamental attribution error) can cause you to follow up with an accusatory tone, complain to their manager, or gossip about them. Employing the most respectful interpretation, in this case, can help you build trust instead of breaking it: Maybe they’re not well or dealing with a personal crisis in life. Could they be working on a high-priority task that is taking all their time and attention? Is it possible that you haven’t communicated the priority well, or they don’t understand that you are blocking them from moving forward? What are the other possible explanations for this situation? Veil of Ignorance When we make decisions, we make them based on our context and our current position in society. Our beliefs on what is just and unjust, what is wrong and right, and what is fair and unfair are colored by our own experiences, race, gender, ethnicity, and so on. This leads to unfair, biased, and sometimes even immoral decisions that favor a certain set of people while disregarding issues we can’t relate to because they do not carry any real significance in our personal lives. The decision is most likely based on our views, what benefits us, and how we might be affected by it. The veil of ignorance is a great mental model to build empathy as it encourages us to put our biases and prejudices aside by imagining ourselves as someone who doesn't know their position in the world. Being ignorant of who we are forced us to consider people from all nationalities, gender, races, and cultures in our choice. Not knowing where we stand post-decision (advantaged or disadvantaged group) avoids stereotyping and leads to rational thinking and fair choices that benefit everyone. The veil of ignorance is most applicable to those in positions of power or those tasked with the responsibility to make decisions that impact others. Using a veil of ignorance can help them put their cognitive biases aside, evaluate the decision by considering the benefit of the entire group instead of over-indexing on self-preservation and seek varied opinions instead of paying undue attention to what benefits them. How to put the veil of ignorance into practice To stay more fair and impartial while making decisions: Imagine yourself as someone who’s ignorant of who they are—with your role, gender, culture, ethnicity, and position as unknown. Apply rational thinking to assess the situation by considering different members of the group—will your decision advantage some and disadvantage others? Could it harm some and benefit others? What information you might be missing, or what information you might be paying more attention to that can lead to a biased decision? Finally, ask yourself, “If I did not know how this would affect me, would I still support it?” Put this way, the veil of ignorance is a highly powerful mental model to assume ignorance and turn it into bliss. The Fairness Principle: When contemplating a moral action imagine that you do not know if you will be the moral doer or receiver, and when in doubt err on the side of the other person. This is based on the philosopher John Rawls’s concepts of the “veil of ignorance” and the “original position” in which moral actors are ignorant of their position in society when determining rules and laws that affect everyone, because of the self-serving bias in human decision making — Michael Shermer Example of the veil of ignorance Post-pandemic, let’s say your organization wants to re-evaluate its decision to continue working remotely or ask employees to come to the office. Your VP of Engineering, a highly influential person, is tasked with this responsibility. Without a veil of ignorance, she will be biased toward a decision that supports her personal views on remote work, what she values, and how a particular decision might harm or benefit her. Just because she believes that teams perform better when they’re face to face or her work demands her to be in the office most of the time, she might decide to end the policy that allows employees to work remotely and ask everyone to come to the office. Not being able to evaluate how her decision impacts employees at all levels prevents her from understanding the challenges that certain employees or certain groups of people might face. Putting on a veil of ignorance by not knowing her position in the organization can encourage her to look at her decision holistically—she can be more empathetic towards different people, their circumstances and come up with creative solutions to problems. What flexibility do parents need? Are there employees who need to take care of someone at home? How can she make it easy for people with disabilities? Learned Helplessness When faced with adversity, it’s common to feel indecisive, restless, and anxious about the future. An optimist is briefly disturbed by the experience but soon bounces back, while a pessimist continues to be paralyzed by fear of failure. An optimist storms out of this phase with the belief that it’s only a rough patch, while the pessimist spirals into hopelessness with the belief in the permanent nature of their situation. Learned helplessness describes the tendency to stop trying to escape difficult situations because we have gotten used to difficult conditions over time. Someone learns that they are helpless to control their circumstances, so they give up trying to change them - Gabriel Weinberg This makes a certain set of people believe that they’re incapable of doing or learning certain things. To improve empathy at work, instead of attributing their difficulties to their incompetence, help them see that they’re not helpless and their actions can actually make a difference. How to help others escape learned helplessness Help others shift from learned helplessness to learned optimism by doing this: Challenge how they think and act. Help them reframe negative self-talk in the form of permanent and pervasive interpretations to positive self-talk using temporary and specific explanations. Support them in setting reasonable goals and taking tiny steps in this direction. It will give them a sense of control over their outcomes. Share positive feedback and remind them of all the good things they’ve achieved so far. Encourage them to not give up and keep trying. Example of learned helplessness Martin Seligman, the father of modern positive psychology, conducted experiments way back in 1964 that proved how people learn to feel helpless. A caged dog receives electric shocks to its back paws. The shocks come randomly and without warning. If the dog does nothing, the shock lasts five seconds, but if the dog pushes its nose against a panel at the front of the cage, the shock ends early. In a separate cage, another dog receives the same shocks at exactly the same intervals, but there’s no panel to push on. In other words, both dogs get the exact same dosage of shock at the exact same times, but only the first dog is in control of how long each shock lasts. After sixty-four shocks, both dogs go back to their home cages, and new dogs are brought in for the same procedure. The next day, one by one, all the dogs are placed in a different cage called a shuttle box. In the middle, there’s a low wall, just high enough that the dogs can leap the barrier if they try. A high-pitched tone plays, heralding an impending shock, which comes through the floor of the half of the shuttle box where the dog is standing. Nearly all the dogs who had control over the shocks the previous day learned to leap the barrier. They hear the tone and jump over the wall to safety. In contrast, two-thirds of the dogs who had no control over the shocks the previous day just lay down whimpering, passively waiting for the punishment to stop. Human beings tend to behave the same way as published in this 1975 experiment by Donald Hiroto and Martin Seligman. In this experiment, people are randomly divided into three groups. People in the first group are exposed to an annoying loud noise that they can stop by pushing a button in front of them. People in the second group hear the same noise but can’t turn it off, though they try hard, and people in the third group, the control group, hear nothing at all. The following day, the subjects are faced with a brand-new situation that again involves noise. To turn the noise off, all they have to do is move their hands about 12 inches. The people in the first and third groups figure this out and readily learn to avoid the noise. But those in the second group typically do nothing. In phase one, they failed, realized they had no control and became passive. In phase two, expecting more failure, they don’t even try to escape. They have learned helplessness. Strangely, however, about a third of the animals and people who experience inescapable shocks or noise never become helpless. What is it about them that makes this so? Martin’s study concluded that the answer is optimism. He showed that it is not suffering that leads to hopelessness. It’s the suffering you believe that you can’t control. While pessimists feel helpless because they think the situation is beyond their control and refuse to do anything to change it, optimists do everything in their power to take control of their situation. Adversity doesn’t define them. It is one of the engines to fuel their growth. When others say things like “public speaking is not for me,” or “I can never code,” or “I can’t quit my job even though it makes me miserable,” recognize that these people are dealing with learned helplessness and they just need your guidance and support to realize that they aren’t really helpless and their actions can make a big difference. Practicing these four mental models—the third story, most respectful interpretation, the veil of ignorance, and learned helplessness—to increase empathy at work can improve communication, strengthen your ability to connect with others, boost creativity, and lead to more effective collaboration. If you want to connect, inspire and lead, start deploying empathy at work in small daily interactions. Summary Showing empathy at work is crucial to connect, communicate and collaborate in an effective way. Instead of misjudging others' behavior or making assumptions about their actions, showing empathy at work requires putting them aside and stepping into their shoes to understand what they’re really thinking. In a conflict or a disagreement, build empathy by using the third story mental model to get rid of your biases and prejudices and explore alternative views. When others don’t meet your expectations, instead of assuming they are bad, mean or disrespectful, be empathetic by thinking of the most respectful interpretation. When making a decision, we are bound to choose a side that benefits us. This is where using the veil of ignorance helps. Not knowing whether the decision benefits or harms you enables taking an empathetic view and fair decision-making. Some people may find it hard to get over failures and setbacks. Learned helplessness prevents them from learning and moving forward. Increase empathy at work by showing them how their own action can help them overcome any difficulty. Previously published . here

Building Empathy At Work: 4 Powerful Mental Models

When cybersecurity professionals consider all the complicated reasons why people commit different kinds of (and other crimes), we think about many of the political and financial motivations that can be factored in. People often overlook the psychological aspect and fail to consider that certain individuals may be motivated by mental conditions, which could drive them to commit crimes against others. cybercrime According to this by Cybercrime’s Dark Triad from the Security Boulevard, many cybercriminals (but not necessarily most of them or not all of them obviously) are sociopaths who might do something for some kind of personal gain or amusement while simply not caring about any of the consequences of their actions. article One thing about sociopaths is that they can be described as “hot-headed” individuals who do not think too much about the impact of their deeds on other people. Many times, a sociopathic individual may attack an organization without some kind of clear motivation. An example is the Vermont hospital that happened back in 2020. According to an article from the Associated Press about the incident, workers at the hospital “found a file directing them to contact the attackers if they wanted their systems restored, but it did not contain a request for money” and ultimately their systems were damaged anyway. cyberattack What is sociopathy? According to - it is a mental condition known as antisocial personality disorder or ASPD, for short, where a person regularly shows no regard for right and wrong & ignores the rights/feelings of others. MayoClinic Symptoms of ASPD can include repeatedly: Ignoring right and wrong. Telling lies to take advantage of others. Not being sensitive to or respectful of others. Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or pleasure. Having a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated. Having problems with the law, including criminal behavior. Being hostile, aggressive, violent, or threatening to others. Feeling no guilt about harming others. Doing dangerous things with no regard for the safety of self or others. Being irresponsible and failing to fulfill work or financial responsibilities. Untreated ASPD affects of the population. This means that approximately one in thirty-three individuals have an untreated version of this condition, which potentially contributes to their inclination to commit crimes against others. It is important to note that not all cybercriminals are sociopaths. However, gaining an understanding of individuals with conditions such as Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is crucial in comprehending the motivations behind criminal behavior. 3% While ASPD is not the only reason for cybercrime, it will continue to contribute a considerable quota as long as people continue to deal with this mental condition, as we’re fairly certain they will seeing as about of ASPD cases are genetic. 50% All of this reminds people why experts and other forms of security professionals are so important: because even if political and financial motivations disappeared tomorrow, there would still be plenty of people who would desire to mess with other people’s property both in real life and in cyberspace! cybersecurity

Cybercrime and Sociopathy: How a Lack of Empathy Can Threaten Cybersecurity

Welcome, As a Spammer of the registry (pun intended), I want to explain to you what's going on with the NPM registry and its management. At first, I felt the title `It's Party Time For NPM Spammers🥳` was offensive, unlawful, or disrespectful, and I also asked for help from an AI chatbot. I got the following results, but I purposefully stayed with the same to get attention from both NPM and the dev community. AI Chatbot: Certainly! Here are some alternative titles for your blog post on spammers in the NPM registry: “Navigating the Murky Waters: A Deep Dive into NPM Registry Spam”
“Guarding the NPM Gates: Strategies to Combat Registry Spam”
“Unmasking the Shadows: Inside the World of NPM Registry Spammers” Let's start with some basics. I request that you take a close look at the forthcoming screenshots. What is NPM? It is the world's largest software registry and a Node Package Manager for the JavaScript programming language maintained by Microsoft's npm, Inc. Types of Spam Let's list out some with my experience and a few real examples currently living in the registry. Keyword Stuffing:
Packages using irrelevant keywords to appear in more search results.



Malicious Code:
Packages containing harmful code or backdoors.


Rewarding decentralized protocol (New Type):
These packages were created to get some incentives from the OSS blockchain technology. You can learn more from here.




Fake Packages:
Impersonating popular packages to deceive users.


Low-Quality Packages:
Flooded with typos, irrelevant content, or empty functionality.



Bot-Generated Packages:
Automated spam submissions.



Phishing Attempts:
Packages designed to steal sensitive information.


Dependency Spam:
Malicious packages as dependencies of legitimate ones.


Hello World Packages (Low priority issue):
The students & learners try their first-time packages.



Weird Packages:
There are many packages with index.js file containing a comment which says something like the below and I try to understand with the google translator, no luck, if you got it, please let me know in the comments. Fancy Packages Control:
These kinds of users acquire short package names. NOTE: This list excludes security related malicious packages as they are often reported by the experts. Some notable past incidents: https://www.sonatype.com/resources/blog/npm-flooded-with-748-packages-that-store-movies
https://thehackernews.com/2023/09/fresh-wave-of-malicious-npm-packages.html
https://thehackernews.com/2023/08/malicious-npm-packages-found.html Some Spammers List Here, I am going to list some of them because it is simply not possible to list all of them here, also, with the number of packages published by each one. https://www.npmjs.com/\~onedionysc - 6931


https://www.npmjs.com/\~shivamkalsi2024 - 997


https://www.npmjs.com/\~79w - 551


https://www.npmjs.com/\~ellentea - 599


https://www.npmjs.com/\~uirewikilabs - 323


https://www.npmjs.com/\~quinterochris100 - 361


https://www.npmjs.com/\~vanthuanbt26 - 250


https://www.npmjs.com/\~tiengiangb47 - 230


https://www.npmjs.com/\~swenkertreanpm - 227


https://www.npmjs.com/\~loandinhb931 - 224 These are my random picks, and who knows how many of them are. The Team's Response The Problem The problem is not the spammers, as they always will be, but the real problem is within the management. Take, for example: If someone reports this via one of your support forums, the reply they get is simply redirection; they are redirecting you to fill out their respective forms for spam submissions. What if the reporter did not want to do extra work here? The important thing to note here is that the spammers and their packages live happily, even after we provide the absolute spam users and their package links. Conclusion I am writing this blog because I waited too long for them to fix it. Justice delayed is justice denied
- William Blackstone Please don't forget to check out our important Articles: Introducing Our New JavaScript Standard Library
You Don’t Need JavaScript Native Methods! Happy coding! 🚀 🙏 Thanks for reading. Welcome, As a Spammer of the registry (pun intended) , I want to explain to you what's going on with the NPM registry and its management. Spammer ( pun intended ) pun intended At first, I felt the title ` It's Party Time For NPM Spammers🥳 ` was offensive, unlawful, or disrespectful, and I also asked for help from an AI chatbot. I got the following results, but I purposefully stayed with the same to get attention from both NPM and the dev community. It's Party Time For NPM Spammers🥳 AI Chatbot : Certainly! Here are some alternative titles for your blog post on spammers in the NPM registry: AI Chatbot “Navigating the Murky Waters: A Deep Dive into NPM Registry Spam” “Guarding the NPM Gates: Strategies to Combat Registry Spam” “Unmasking the Shadows: Inside the World of NPM Registry Spammers” “Navigating the Murky Waters: A Deep Dive into NPM Registry Spam” “Navigating the Murky Waters: A Deep Dive into NPM Registry Spam” “Guarding the NPM Gates: Strategies to Combat Registry Spam” “Guarding the NPM Gates: Strategies to Combat Registry Spam” “Unmasking the Shadows: Inside the World of NPM Registry Spammers” “Unmasking the Shadows: Inside the World of NPM Registry Spammers” Let's start with some basics. I request that you take a close look at the forthcoming screenshots. What is NPM? It is the world's largest software registry and a Node Package Manager for the JavaScript programming language maintained by Microsoft's npm, Inc. Types of Spam Types of Spam Let's list out some with my experience and a few real examples currently living in the registry. Keyword Stuffing:
Packages using irrelevant keywords to appear in more search results. Malicious Code:
Packages containing harmful code or backdoors. Rewarding decentralized protocol (New Type):
These packages were created to get some incentives from the OSS blockchain technology. You can learn more from here. Fake Packages:
Impersonating popular packages to deceive users. Low-Quality Packages:
Flooded with typos, irrelevant content, or empty functionality. Bot-Generated Packages:
Automated spam submissions. Phishing Attempts:
Packages designed to steal sensitive information. Dependency Spam:
Malicious packages as dependencies of legitimate ones. Hello World Packages (Low priority issue):
The students & learners try their first-time packages. Weird Packages:
There are many packages with index.js file containing a comment which says something like the below and I try to understand with the google translator, no luck, if you got it, please let me know in the comments. Keyword Stuffing: Packages using irrelevant keywords to appear in more search results. Keyword Stuffing : Keyword Stuffing Packages using irrelevant keywords to appear in more search results. Malicious Code: Packages containing harmful code or backdoors. Malicious Code : Malicious Code Packages containing harmful code or backdoors. Rewarding decentralized protocol (New Type): These packages were created to get some incentives from the OSS blockchain technology. You can learn more from here. Rewarding decentralized protocol (New Type) : Rewarding decentralized protocol (New Type) These packages were created to get some incentives from the OSS blockchain technology. You can learn more from here . learn more from here Fake Packages: Impersonating popular packages to deceive users. Fake Packages : Fake Packages Impersonating popular packages to deceive users. Low-Quality Packages: Flooded with typos, irrelevant content, or empty functionality. Low-Quality Packages : Low-Quality Packages Flooded with typos, irrelevant content, or empty functionality. Bot-Generated Packages: Automated spam submissions. Bot-Generated Packages : Bot-Generated Packages Automated spam submissions. Phishing Attempts: Packages designed to steal sensitive information. Phishing Attempts : Phishing Attempts Packages designed to steal sensitive information. Dependency Spam: Malicious packages as dependencies of legitimate ones. Dependency Spam : Dependency Spam Malicious packages as dependencies of legitimate ones. Hello World Packages (Low priority issue): The students & learners try their first-time packages. Hello World Packages (Low priority issue) : Hello World Packages (Low priority issue) The students & learners try their first-time packages. Weird Packages: There are many packages with index.js file containing a comment which says something like the below and I try to understand with the google translator, no luck, if you got it, please let me know in the comments. Weird Packages: Weird Packages: There are many packages with index.js file containing a comment which says something like the below and I try to understand with the google translator, no luck, if you got it, please let me know in the comments. Fancy Packages Control:
These kinds of users acquire short package names. Fancy Packages Control: These kinds of users acquire short package names. Fancy Packages Control : Fancy Packages Control These kinds of users acquire short package names. NOTE : This list excludes security related malicious packages as they are often reported by the experts. NOTE Some notable past incidents: https://www.sonatype.com/resources/blog/npm-flooded-with-748-packages-that-store-movies https://thehackernews.com/2023/09/fresh-wave-of-malicious-npm-packages.html https://thehackernews.com/2023/08/malicious-npm-packages-found.html https://www.sonatype.com/resources/blog/npm-flooded-with-748-packages-that-store-movies https://www.sonatype.com/resources/blog/npm-flooded-with-748-packages-that-store-movies https://thehackernews.com/2023/09/fresh-wave-of-malicious-npm-packages.html https://thehackernews.com/2023/09/fresh-wave-of-malicious-npm-packages.html https://thehackernews.com/2023/08/malicious-npm-packages-found.html https://thehackernews.com/2023/08/malicious-npm-packages-found.html Some Spammers List Here, I am going to list some of them because it is simply not possible to list all of them here, also, with the number of packages published by each one. https://www.npmjs.com/\~onedionysc - 6931 https://www.npmjs.com/\~shivamkalsi2024 - 997 https://www.npmjs.com/\~79w - 551 https://www.npmjs.com/\~ellentea - 599 https://www.npmjs.com/\~uirewikilabs - 323 https://www.npmjs.com/\~quinterochris100 - 361 https://www.npmjs.com/\~vanthuanbt26 - 250 https://www.npmjs.com/\~tiengiangb47 - 230 https://www.npmjs.com/\~swenkertreanpm - 227 https://www.npmjs.com/\~loandinhb931 - 224 https://www.npmjs.com/\~onedionysc - 6931 https://www.npmjs.com/\~onedionysc - 6931 https://www.npmjs.com/\~onedionysc 6931 https://www.npmjs.com/\~shivamkalsi2024 - 997 https://www.npmjs.com/\~shivamkalsi2024 - 997 https://www.npmjs.com/\~shivamkalsi2024 https://www.npmjs.com/\~79w - 551 https://www.npmjs.com/\~79w - 551 https://www.npmjs.com/\~79w https://www.npmjs.com/\~ellentea - 599 https://www.npmjs.com/\~ellentea - 599 https://www.npmjs.com/\~ellentea https://www.npmjs.com/\~uirewikilabs - 323 https://www.npmjs.com/\~uirewikilabs - 323 https://www.npmjs.com/\~uirewikilabs https://www.npmjs.com/\~quinterochris100 - 361 https://www.npmjs.com/\~quinterochris100 - 361 https://www.npmjs.com/\~quinterochris100 https://www.npmjs.com/\~vanthuanbt26 - 250 https://www.npmjs.com/\~vanthuanbt26 - 250 https://www.npmjs.com/\~vanthuanbt26 https://www.npmjs.com/\~tiengiangb47 - 230 https://www.npmjs.com/\~tiengiangb47 - 230 https://www.npmjs.com/\~tiengiangb47 https://www.npmjs.com/\~swenkertreanpm - 227 https://www.npmjs.com/\~swenkertreanpm - 227 https://www.npmjs.com/\~swenkertreanpm https://www.npmjs.com/\~loandinhb931 - 224 https://www.npmjs.com/\~loandinhb931 - 224 https://www.npmjs.com/\~loandinhb931 These are my random picks, and who knows how many of them are. The Team's Response The Problem The problem is not the spammers, as they always will be, but the real problem is within the management. Take, for example: If someone reports this via one of your support forums, the reply they get is simply redirection; they are redirecting you to fill out their respective forms for spam submissions. What if the reporter did not want to do extra work here? extra The important thing to note here is that the spammers and their packages live happily, even after we provide the absolute spam users and their package links. Conclusion I am writing this blog because I waited too long for them to fix it. Justice delayed is justice denied - William Blackstone Justice delayed is justice denied Justice delayed is justice denied - William Blackstone Please don't forget to check out our important Articles: important Introducing Our New JavaScript Standard Library You Don’t Need JavaScript Native Methods! Introducing Our New JavaScript Standard Library Introducing Our New JavaScript Standard Library Introducing Our New JavaScript Standard Library You Don’t Need JavaScript Native Methods! You Don’t Need JavaScript Native Methods! You Don’t Need JavaScript Native Methods! Happy coding! 🚀 🙏 Thanks for reading.

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