Technical University of Munich
& PFH Goettingen, Germany
The Motivated AI Lab
While today's AI systems are highly effective at recognizing patterns and solving cognitive problems, they remain fundamentally limited in important respects: they lack emotion, autonomous motivation, and the capacity for empathy. These are not just optional features—they are central to what makes human minds flexible, socially intelligent, and meaningfully self-regulating. An AI that only calculates, but doesn’t care, cannot truly be called human-like.
The Motivatedl Artificial Intelligence Lab is dedicated to changing this. Our work focuses on developing models and systems that go beyond cognition, integrating emotion, motivation, and volition as core components of intelligent behavior and an “artificial intelligent soul” [link zum späteren Video?]. Drawing on empirical insights from the fields of motivation, emotion, and personality psychology and neuroscience, we study how affective and self-regulatory processes can be implemented in artificial agents—not as add-ons, but as essential architectural features.
In our team, researchers from psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, engineering, and mathematics work together to explore how emotion and motivation can be formalized, simulated, and brought into interaction with learning and decision-making processes. The lab operates as a collaborative network across institutions, including partners at the Technical University of Munich, PFH Göttingen, and other research centers in Germany and beyond.
Our broader aim is twofold: to support the development of socially and emotionally competent machines—and to deepen our understanding of the mind by attempting to model it in all its complexity. We believe that affective intelligence is not a luxury in AI, but a necessity.
The Team
Professor Dr. Markus Quirin is with the TUM School of Medicine & Health
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Our Lab involves are variety of scholar from all around the world
Markus Quirin
Lab Director
Professor Markus Quirin holds a doctorate in Psychology. His focus lies in Emotion, Motivation, Personality, Neuroscience, and Social Psychology
Dinesh Paudel
Doctoral Candidate
Dinesh is a 5th year Phd student with Professor Quirin. He holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from TUM.
David Bayer
Student Researcher
David is a student researcher with Professor Quirin. His academic background lies in industrial engineering and information systems.
tbd
Future Lab Member
We are always looking for new lab members. Please do reach out in case our research strongly intersects with your areas of interest!