Nirmal Patel

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Nirmal Patel is a leading researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human-centered computing, with a primary focus on affective computing and the emotional alignment of generative AI systems. His work critically examines how large language models and multimodal AI express emotions through text, imagery, voice, and video, and whether these expressions genuinely align with human emotional states. Patel’s most influential paper, “Evaluating the alignment of AI with human emotions” (2024), has already garnered 18 citations, establishing a foundational framework for assessing emotional authenticity in AI—a crucial concern for applications in mental health support, digital caregiving, and wellbeing technologies. By developing rigorous evaluation metrics, Patel has helped bridge the gap between technical AI performance and the nuanced, subjective experience of human emotion. His contributions are particularly vital as AI systems increasingly assume roles in therapeutic and caregiving contexts, where misaligned emotional expression could cause harm. Patel’s work is shaping the responsible deployment of emotionally expressive AI, ensuring that these systems can genuinely support, rather than merely simulate, human wellbeing.