Naomi R. Aguiar, PhD
Recent Articles
Will AI Kill Imaginary Friends?
An invited essay for Zocalo Public Square on how AI companions are different from imaginary friends and the impact these relationships have on children.
Recent Conversations
And Now Love Podcast with Cynthia Marks
A conversation with Cynthia Marks about children's relationships with AI companions and how they might affect self regulation skills, conflict tolerance, and concepts of healthy intimacy.
Child Mind Institute
A conversation with writer and journalist, Jennifer King Lindley, about teen's experience of and relationships with AI chatbots, including how they effect their social and emotional development.
Recent Talks
For the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, this talk described the psychological mechanisms that might drive us to form bonds with LLMs, and how design features of LLMs can make AI companionship feel so real. This talk also described the risks and benefits of these relationships, who is most a risk iand what engineers can do to reduce harms through design choices.
Understanding LLMs and their social impact
This talk walked attendees through how the algorithms of large language models (LLMs) work by focusing on human infants' language acquisition. Using infant language development as a guide, this talk will also included how design features of LLMs make it possible for us to form relationships with them, and how these relationships can impact individuals and society as a whole.
Invited Talks
Inventing our own relationships
This talk explored the history of the ways in which we invent relationships for ourselves, and how this set the stage for the budding relationship we now have with AI chatbots. This talk also covered the design features and psychological mechanisms that drive us to form these relationships, and what benefits and risks they pose.
Want to know more?
First, check out my independent and collaborative research. Then, let's connect!
Reach out to chat with me about all things related to imagination, AI companions, and relationships in the digital age.
Online teaching and learning research:
Research on relationships with AI chatbots:
