BPU Holdings: Leading the Artificial Emotional Intelligence Revolution

SangGyoon Oh, CEO

Even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) technologies lack essential capabilities like emotional intelligence (EI) and the ability to contextualise information as humans do. For instance, an AI designed for cleaning understands that the world is full of garbage to be cleaned, making that its objective. Similarly, a self-driving car involved in an unavoidable accident must be able to make a split-second decision on whether to crash into an unaware pedestrian or a luxury vehicle. In this scenario, logic based on cost metrics alone might cause the AI to conclude that hitting the luxury car is better than hitting the human. However, with the integration of emotional intelligence, the AI will use other metrics that value human life above economic loss. Therefore, infusing emotions, empathy, and morality into AI is a crucial turn in its journey to becoming a transformational technology that will contribute to the betterment of society. At the forefront of the research and development of this revolutionary branch of AI, Seoul based BPU Holdings delivers advanced, usable, secure, and innovative artificial emotional intelligence (AEI) technology. The company provides innovative products and services, which have the potential to change the world.

Next-Generation Search Engine

One of the company’s baseline products, ZimGO, is a search engine that uses sentiment analysis to evaluate what people are saying about a topic on social media. “With our algorithm, we categorise related keywords and semantic terms that can further refine the search,” explains Oh, CEO of BPU Holdings. By identifying key influencers, trending related topics, and most relevant keywords, ZimGo narrows the scope of the search to things that really matter. As more people search about a specific topic and narrow down the content of the highest value, public opinion can be accurately determined.

It is important to note that ZimGo is not a single AEI, but rather a collection of AIs, which applies EI as necessary. ZimGo utilises machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning, neural networks, and other AI tools, to deliver a next-generation search engine. At this point, BPU Holdings is focusing on modeling and developing software to test certain theories. For instance, ZimGo Polling is BPU Holding’s political forecasting and analysis system that tests the theory of Twitter accurately capturing voter sentiments. The results from the Korean election turned out to be even more accurate than expected and the product is now being used to monitor different political races–with a current race in the US.

We hope to develop an AEI service that correctly interprets human emotion such that when an input is presented, it is able to recognize the emotional content accurately, process it, and then act appropriately

“We hope to develop an AEI service that correctly interprets human emotion such that when an input is presented, it is able to recognise the emotional content accurately, process it, and then act appropriately,” says Oh. This is critical because once the computer detects and recognises an emotion; it can be programmed to synthesise that emotion.

AEI-Based Apps

Neil is an AEI curator for news. It is a chatbot that learns what a person likes, and then finds noteworthy content to match those tastes while learning the user’s personality. It serves as a private, ad-free chatbot, and a virtual assistant whose goal is to find reputable articles on a specific topic or genre.

Another offering from BPU Holdings, aiMei is a sophisticated AEI bot framework that can be used to develop digital assistants for medical, political, human resources, customer service, and many other applications. Currently, the company is testing a new version of the aiMei framework, in the medical field. aiMei can proactively interact with the individual, communicating directly with monitoring devices to measure user activity and overall emotional and physical health. It can ask questions to determine the mental or emotional states of patients and recognise potential scenarios of self-harm and recognise pattern-based ailments such as depression. In hospitals, aiMei framework can be used to supplement nurses who are in high demand and provide patients with a near-constant caretaker.

The First AEI Platform

BPU Holdings’ ZimOS is the first of its kind AEI platform that emulates how people think and feel. “We have developed ZimOS–BPU’s Operating System Cloud service that encapsulates all of our products and services,” explains Oh. This allows enterprises to customise AI and direct AEI to more personalised, emotional emulations. ZimOS is also a way to begin the actual interaction between humans and machine, by allowing it to express “needs” and “wants.” While the platform is in its initial stage, introducing the notion of needs/wants helps create a self-interest model for machines. “And while it’s contrived, and feels completely synthetic and unnatural today, at some point this will become the standard,” says Oh. ZimOS acts as a personal AI that learns to securely and automatically assist users. While ZimOS was built in-house, it will eventually be open source and freely accessible to the world. BPU Holdings believes that all other IoT devices will be equipped with ZimOS in the future.

Giving Back to Society

Apart from leading the research and development of AEI, BPU Holdings follows a unique culture where all employees are considered family. Like many technology startups, BPU Holdings was on the brink of failure multiple times; and at one point, the company was running out of funds, struggling to keep its servers running and keeping its office space. During such difficult times, the company could not afford to compensate its employees for almost 10months. However, not one person resigned and a few even made personal contributions to sustain the company. This continued until the company received a $5 million institutional investment, after which it was able to successfully raise an additional $60 million through crowdfunding. Persevering through such burdensome days, Oh decided to grant a lunch allowance for all of his employees every day as a reminder to never take things for granted. Furthermore, BPU Holdings allocates 30 percent of its profits for the public good.

Despite its humble beginnings, BPU Holdings has already established itself as a global enterprise with offices in Seoul, Las Vegas, and Sarajevo. The company continues to advance the understanding, design, and value of AEI based technology.