Jon Gratch

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About

Jon Gratch is a leading figure in the field of affective computing and artificial intelligence, with a primary focus on understanding and computationally modeling human emotion, social interaction, and rapport. His groundbreaking work explores how virtual agents and social robots can establish meaningful connections with people, particularly through the dynamics of social dialogue and nonverbal behavior. A key contribution is his research on the role of errors in human-robot interaction, demonstrating that conversational mistakes can paradoxically enhance rapport under certain conditions, a finding that challenges simplistic views of perfect automation. With a publication record amassing over 10,000 citations, Gratch’s impact is profound, particularly through his foundational work on the EMA (Emotion and Adaptation) model, which provides a computational framework for how emotions arise from coping with the environment. He is also a key architect of the Rapport Agent, a system designed to build trust and engagement in virtual interactions. As a Research Professor at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies, Gratch’s work not only advances fundamental AI theory but also has practical applications in training, therapy, and human-robot collaboration.