AI Social Companions

Co-PIs: Dr. Radhika Gajjala, Dr. Xiaofeng Jia

Research Assistants: Ruth Yeboah, Diana Boakyewaa

This ongoing project examines synthetic interaction with AI social companions and their growing role in everyday emotional life. While AI companions are increasingly embedded in intimate and supportive contexts, there remains little shared language or evidence-based guidance for navigating emotional engagement with relational AI. Existing research has largely focused on whether people form emotional relationships with AI; this project shifts attention to how users actively manage, negotiate, and recalibrate these relationships over time. An initial pilot study has been completed, and the project has been nominated and submitted for a BGSU Accelerator Grant to support its next phase of expansion.