LONELY.AI: A Research Project on Artifical Intelligence and Loneliness

More and more people are using AI companions and other generative artificial intelligence systems to talk about personal matters. But can such systems protect us from loneliness and psychological distress – or might they even contribute to it?

The LONELY.AI project investigates how the use of generative AI affects social and mental health. The central question is under which circumstances this use is good or bad for us – and what this means for the design and political regulation of such systems. 

LONELY.AI is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ). The project runs for 24 months, from September 2026 to August 2028. 

LONELY.AI Objectives

LONELY.AI aims to understand under which conditions generative AI systems reduce or increase loneliness, how their use affects social and mental health in the general German population, and what role parasocial interactions and relationships play in this. Building on theoretical, longitudinal and contextual analyses, the project seeks to identify vulnerable usage profiles and to derive target-group-specific recommendations for prevention, care and the human-centred development of future AI applications. This will be carried out in five project modules: 

• Mapping the state of research: Module 1 maps the scientific literature on AI, parasocial relationships and their association with social and mental health in the form of a scoping review.
• Empirical studies: Module 2 examines concrete situations of AI use in everyday life in a 14-day diary study. Module 3 tests bidirectional associations between AI use, parasocial relationships and various facets of social and mental health longitudinally over an extended period of time. Both studies are conducted in cooperation with the Digital Mental Health Panel of the Research and Treatment Center (FBZ) of Ruhr University Bochum and the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) at the Bochum-Marburg site (www.deutsches-gesundheitsbarometer.de). 
• Recommendations: The results will be discussed in a co-creation workshop with international representatives from research, policy, mental health care, AI development and data protection, as well as people with lived experience and their relatives (Module 4). The results and the recommendations derived from them are to be presented at the Loneliness Conference 2028 (expected in June 2028 in Berlin), organised by the Competence Network on Loneliness (Kompetenznetz Einsamkeit) and the BMBFSFJ, and discussed with other participants in a workshop. The results will also be documented in a detailed final report, which will be published open access. In addition, a so-called transfer publication will be produced for the general public, presenting the most important findings and recommendations briefly and in plain language (Module 5).

Project Team

Publications and Results

Publications and reports on results will be linked here when they become available. The results will also be presented and discussed at the Loneliness Conference 2028 of the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) and the Competence Network on Loneliness (Kompetenznetz Einsamkeit). 

Kontakt

The best way to reach us is by email: lonelyai@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Funding and Duration