Our work

We advance the science of love and relational learning to understand how young people build relationships in a changing world. We study relationships across families, friendships, and romantic partners, and how technology and AI are becoming part of that process. We examine when AI strengthens human connection, when it displaces important relational experiences, what young people learn through repeated interactions with AI, and how those experiences carry into their relationships and mental health. We follow young people and the people closest to them over time, combining experiments with real-world data from their relationships and digital lives to understand what happens, for whom, and under what conditions. We also ask if our science of relational learning can help us build better AI.

Most youth safety work happens after a product is finalized. We work upstream, partnering with young people and technology leaders to bring the science of human connection into the design of AI systems, from digital agents to robotics. Together, we develop and test technologies designed to strengthen human relationships rather than replace them. This work will produce developmentally grounded design principles, evaluation frameworks, and benchmarks that can guide technology companies from product development through deployment. Our measure of success is simple: Do young people’s human relationships get better?

Young people are learning about relationships in a technological world that is changing faster than the guidance available to them. We bring developmental science into the places where young people actually grow up, developing education and practical tools with young people, families, schools, and communities. This builds on our ongoing partnerships with public middle and high schools in Arizona and California. We also train the next generation to carry this work forward.

Long before young people fall in love, stories teach them what to expect from relationships. We partner with artists, filmmakers, and storytellers to bring the science of love into popular culture and create stories that expand young people's ideas about what healthy love and connection can be.

Decisions about youth-facing AI are being made while many fundamental developmental questions remain unanswered. We bring developmental science and young people's experiences into those decisions, working with leaders in technology and policy to develop evidence-based guidance and safeguards. As the evidence grows, this work can inform national and international standards for technologies that interact socially and emotionally with young people.