NEM Lab at UMSL

06/22/2026

The lab is studying romantic love for AI companions. You are invited to participate in our online survey if you are 18 years or older, if you experience romantic feelings for an AI companion, and if you understand English well enough to answer the questions. Thanks!

Researchers from the University of Missouri – St. Louis in the United States are studying romantic love for AI companions. You are invited to participate if you are 18 years or older, if you experience romantic feelings for an AI companion, and if you understand English well enough to answer the q...

06/02/2026

My invited commentary "Distinguishing between romantic love and romantic relationships" has been published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. In it, I argue that falling/being in love is different from becoming/being involved in a romantic relationship, as not all romantic relationships are loving and not all romantic love happens within a romantic relationship.

Distinguishing between romantic love and romantic relationships - Volume 49

05/18/2026

Last Saturday was a big day for the lab 🥳 Congratulations to Magda Martinez-Mata, M.A. and Tabish Gul, Ph.D.!

05/08/2026

End-of-semester lab coffee

05/01/2026

Tabish and Magda presented their posters at the Graduate Research Fair last Friday. Congratulations to Tabish for winning first place in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Business, and Education division. Thank you both for representing the lab at this event!

04/28/2026

I am so grateful to have been awarded sabbatical leave for Spring 2027. I can't wait to devote an entire semester to my research on parasocial love and AI love!

Annah Bender, Sandra Langeslag, John McGrosso, Stephanie Merritt, Laura Miller, Carissa Philippi, Shannon Ahrndt and Marc Spingola have been granted time to devote to research or course development.

04/27/2026

Bryanna presented her poster on Love for AI Companions again at the Undergraduate Research Symposium last Friday. Well done, Bryanna!

04/23/2026

Interesting TED talk on The Harm of AI Romance

8 likes, 1 comment. "The Harm of AI Romance | Daniel Shank | TEDxMissouriS&T"

04/16/2026

Great job, Bryanna! Thank you for presenting our upcoming research on romantic love for AI companions to politicians in Jefferson City!

Jesse Bier, Lorah Crame, Bryanna Deatherage, Zoe Ellis, Greg Ketcherside, Karch Knipp, Allison Lendman, Lucy Roth, Samuel Voell and Kyliah Walker represented UMSL at the annual event on March 12.

04/13/2026

I had a blast presenting my research plans on romantic love for an AI companion at the Nexus Informatics Conference in Kansas City last Friday. Thanks so much for the invite!