Each January, approximately 4,500 firms gather in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an event that blends technology with consumer trends.

The 2019 event was no exception, showcasing a plethora of innovative concepts. Attendees shared wild product ideas on social media, while the latest trends spanned from drones to 8K TVs. Among the most intriguing displays were robots claiming to interpret human emotions through facial expressions and health indicators.

While some of these contraptions offered little more than a blend of memes and pseudoscience, others hinted at significant real-world applications. Intel showcased a wheelchair controlled by facial cues, allowing users to navigate through expressions like a wink or a kissy face. Meanwhile, Veoneer introduced a vehicle AI that assesses driver engagement by analyzing facial expressions, aiming to improve road safety. Other technologies aimed to enhance medical visits by diagnosing ailments through facial analysis.

The urge to decode human faces isn't new; it dates back to ancient times. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician, reportedly chose students based on their appearance, while in the 1400s, King James II of Scotland was nicknamed "Fiery Face" due to his distinctive birthmark, which was thought to reflect his temperament. In colonial Europe, some scientists propagated racist stereotypes linking human expressions to animal traits.

The belief in "physiognomy," the idea that our faces reveal hidden meanings, continues to persist. Teju Cole, in The New York Times Magazine, noted that photography often leads us to read into portraits, attributing character traits based solely on physical features.

But how much can a face truly reveal?

Lisa Feldman Barrett, a psychologist at Northeastern University, suggests that while technology may one day accurately assess our moods from our faces, it will require context to be meaningful.

Take a grimace, often seen as a universal sign of anger. While it’s a common stereotype, Barrett points out that it’s not a reliable indicator; people may scowl for various reasons, sometimes unrelated to anger.

Context plays a crucial role in interpreting emotions. We constantly analyze body language, expressions, and vocal tone, considering past interactions and current situations. Those familiar with an individual’s emotional responses tend to interpret their expressions more accurately.

However, this is not about "reading" faces in a literal sense. Barrett emphasizes that we infer meaning based on context rather than directly detecting it. The interplay between a person's expression and our understanding creates a nuanced exchange that current robots cannot replicate.

These innate abilities enhance empathy and communication but can also lead to misunderstandings. Brad Duchaine, a brain science professor at Dartmouth, cautions that people often overestimate their capacity to judge character from facial appearances, which rarely correlates with actual trustworthiness.

Determining health status through facial cues is equally complex. Ian Stephen, a researcher at Macquarie University, employs an evolutionary perspective to study how physiology reflects in our faces. His research indicates that facial shape can suggest factors like BMI and blood pressure. Interestingly, he found that participants perceived white individuals with yellowish and reddish skin tones as healthier, linking this to dietary pigments and oxygenated blood.

Much of this perception occurs subconsciously. In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is captivated by Elizabeth Bennett's flushed complexion after a long walk, unaware that his attraction could relate to biological fitness. This suggests a broader truth: attractive faces are often associated with health.

Evolutionary biologists argue that the intertwining of health and beauty serves an evolutionary purpose, aiding mate selection. Yet, beauty is culturally defined, leading to discrimination based on appearance, which affects various social dynamics, including healthcare.

A 2017 study published in Nature found that perceived health in males correlated with symmetry and skin color, while females were judged on femininity.

Some advocate for the creation of machines that could analyze appearances for deeper insights, while others express concerns about potential misuse. A recent study in Nature revealed a program named DeepGestalt, developed by a genetics company, which uses AI to identify genetic disorders through facial analysis, based on a dataset of 17,000 images.

The implications of DeepGestalt inspire both optimism and anxiety. While it may streamline diagnosis, ethical dilemmas arise regarding privacy and data usage. Could companies analyze personal photos to assess risk factors and influence insurance decisions?

Similar facial recognition technologies have sparked privacy debates. A 2017 initiative aimed at creating an "AI gaydar" faced backlash from advocacy groups, being labeled as harmful and invasive. The machine had a marginally better success rate than chance, raising concerns about the ethical ramifications of such technology.

The fear of entities that can unveil our concealed thoughts and emotions has long been a theme of technological anxiety, as illustrated in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Yet, current capabilities still lag behind our fears.

Feldman Barrett believes that sophisticated emotion-recognizing robots could eventually be developed, but the present companies appear ill-equipped for this challenge. She notes that while machines excel at detecting movement, they often conflate this with emotional understanding. True advancements require not just technological innovation but a shift in perspective.

In his Times piece on physiognomy, Cole reflects on a photograph of a young man, tempted to attribute character traits based on facial symmetry. However, he recognizes this tendency as mere projection.

If you're contemplating purchasing a device that claims to read emotions or health indicators, it might be wise to reconsider and await more reliable advancements.