Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Empathy is a very important capability in human social relationships. If we aim to build artificial companions (agents or robots) capable of establishing long-term relationships with users, they should be able to understand the user's affective state and react accordingly, that is, behave in an empathic manner.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Leite et al. (2010) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 8 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: