Emotional AI Lab
Papers, reports, evidence, talks and media

Outputs

Key outputs

Report · 2026IEEE 7014.1-2026: ethical considerations of emulated empathy in AI partners Report · 2026Do AI Companions Understand? Most UK Teens Say Yes Report · 2026Weaponised Empathy: AI Scams and the Nigeria–UK Response Paper · 2025Soft Law for Unintentional Empathy Paper · 2025Move Fast and Break People? Ethics, Companion Apps, and the Case of Character.ai Policy & evidence · 2025The Machine-Readable Child Report · 2024Can we live well with Emotional AI? It depends Book · 2023Automating Empathy: Decoding Technologies that Gauge Intimate Life

All outputs

2026

2025

2024

  • PaperMcStay, A. (2024) The hidden influence: exploring presence in human-synthetic interactions through ghostbots. Ethics and Information Technology.
  • PaperBakir, V., Laffer, A., McStay, A., Miranda, D., & Urquhart, L. (2024). On manipulation by emotional AI: UK adults’ views and governance implications. Frontiers in Sociology, 9.
  • ReportBakir, V., Ghotbi, N., Ho, T.M., Laffer, A., Mantello, P., McStay, A., Miranda, D., Miyashita, H., Podoletz, L., Tanaka, H., Urquhart, L. (2024) Can we live well with Emotional AI? It depends.. Final report
  • MediaMcStay, A. (2024) Can AI Read Emotions (special guest), BBC, Artificial Human.
  • MediaMcStay, A interview (2024) These Smart Glasses Will Read Your Emotions and Watch What You Eat, Wired.
  • MediaMcStay, A interview (2024) Are you 80% angry and 2% sad? Why ‘emotional AI’ is fraught with problems, The Guardian​.
  • MediaMcStay, A interview (2024) A tour of “emotionally intelligent” AI​, MPR Marketplace
  • TalkMcStay, A. (2024) Soft Law Standards for Technologies that Gauge Intimate Life, Infosys and British High Commission, Bengaluru.
  • TalkMcStay, A. (2024) When is Deception OK? Ethical Considerations of Emulated Empathy in AI (IEEE P7014.1). ISTAS, IEEE.
  • TalkMcStay, A. (2024) Automating Empathy in Human-AI Partnerships: Issues, Ethics and Governance, IEEE Global lecture.
  • TalkMcStay, A. (2024) BBC AI/Machine Learning community on AI companions and empathy.
  • TalkMcStay, A. (2024) Automating Empathy, Establishing Standards and Good Governance, FENS-Chen Neuroscience Summer School, University of Lausanne.
  • TalkMcStay, A. (2024) Automating Empathy: Developing Cross-Cultural Soft Law Standards for Artificial Partners based on Foundational AI, China University of Politics and Law, Beijing.

2023

2022

2021

2020

  • PaperMcStay, A. & Rosner, G. (2020) “Emotoys”: Ethics, Emotions and Empathic Technologies, In A. Malinowska (Ed) Data Dating. Bristol: Intellect.
  • PaperBakir, V. 2020. Psychological Operations in Digital Political Campaigns: Assessing Cambridge Analytica’s Psychographic Profiling and Targeting. Frontiers in Political Communication. 5(67). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00067
  • PaperBakir, V. & A.McStay. (2020) Empathic Media, Emotional AI and the Optimization of Disinformation. In M. Boler and E. Davis (eds.) Affective Politics of Digital Media: Propaganda by Other Means. New York: Routledge. (Book description)
  • PaperMcStay, A. (2020) Emotional AI, Soft Biometrics and the Surveillance of Emotional life: An Unusual Consensus on Privacy, Big Data & Society. 1–12. Link.
  • PaperMcStay, A. (2020) Emotional AI: A societal challenge (a short vision paper), Kenniscentrum Data & Maatschappij. Link.
  • PaperBakir, V. (2020) ‘Against opacity in digital political campaigns’. Kenniscentrum Data & Maatschappij. Link.
  • Policy & evidenceMcStay, A., Rosner, G., Miyashita, H. and Urquhart, L. (2020) Comment on Children’s Rights In Relation To Emotional AI And The Digital Environment for UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
  • Policy & evidenceBakir, V. and McStay, A. (2020) Inquiry into the Impact of Social Media on Elections & Electoral Administration, invited submission to the Electoral Matters Committee, Parliament of Victoria, Australia.
  • ReportMcStay, A. and Rosner, G. (2020) Emotional AI and children: ethics, parents, governance (2020 Report).
  • Policy & evidenceBakir, V., McStay, A. and Urquhart, L. (2020) EMOTION RECOGNITION: TRENDS, SOCIAL FEELING, POLICY (Extended Briefing paper here and short Briefing note here) (For UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence)
  • Policy & evidenceBakir, V. and McStay, A. (2020). Profiling & Targeting Emotions in Digital Political Campaigns. Briefing Paper for All Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency.
  • Policy & evidenceUNICEF (2020) Policy guidance on AI for children (input from McStay on Emotional AI)
  • Policy & evidenceCentre for Data Ethics and Innovation (2020) Snapshot Series: Facial Recognition Technology (interview input from McStay)
  • TalkBakir, V. and McStay, A. (2020)Empathic Technologies: Mediated emotion during COVID-19 (and after), A Global Digital Publics Network (GDPN) event in collaboration with the Emotional AI Lab, the network for Media & Persuasive Communication, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization and the Fame and Persona Research Consortium.

2019

2018

2017

  • PaperMcStay, A. (2017) An Ethical Intervention into Conscious Cities, Conscious Cities. Link.
  • PaperBakir, V. and McStay, A. (2017) Fake News and the Economy of Emotions: Problems, Causes, Solutions, Digital Journalism. Link.
  • BookMcStay, A. (2017) Privacy and the Media. London: Sage. (See chapter 10 Empathic media: towards ubiquitous emotional intelligence).
  • PaperMcStay, A. (2017) “Micro-moments, Liquidity, Intimacy and Automation: Developments in Programmatic Ad-Tech”. In G. Siegert and M.B. von Rimscha (Eds) Commercial communication in the digital age – information or disinformation? Berlin: De Gruyter. Click here.
  • PaperMcStay, A. (2017) “The Mood of Information in an Age of Empathic Media”. In J.F. Hamilton, R. Bodle and E. Korin (eds) Explorations in Critical Studies of Advertising, p. 235-247. New York: Routledge. Link.
  • Policy & evidenceMcStay, A. (2017) AND THEN THERE’S EMOTIONAL AI… (For the house of lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence)
  • Policy & evidenceMcStay, A. (2017) Empathic Media: The Rise of Emotional AI (June 2017)
  • Policy & evidenceBakir, V. and McStay, A. (2017) Summary And Analysis Of All Written Submissions On How To Combat Fake News (Up To April 2017) (For Department of Culture Media and Sport parliamentary inquiry into fake news)
  • Policy & evidenceBakir, V. and McStay, A. (2017) Fake News: Media Economics and Emotional Button-Pushing (For Department of Culture Media and Sport parliamentary inquiry into fake news)

2016

2015

2014

  • BookMcStay, A. (2014) Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol. New York: Peter Lang. (See chapter 7 on heidegger, moods and empathic media)

Earlier talks and media appearances by Andrew McStay are listed on andrewmcstay.org.