Noah Castelo, University of Alberta

Research

psychology of technology artificial intelligence human machine interaction automation psychology chatbot persuasion attitudes

Latest papers

Mourning the loss of AI companions.
Nature human behaviour · 2026
Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being.
PNAS nexus · 2025 · first author
Cross-Cultural Differences in Comfort with Humanlike Robots.
International journal of social robotics · 2022 · first author

All 4 publications

Latest funding

The System Decides: Moral Outsourcing and the Diffusion of Responsibility in AI-Mediated Customer Service
SSHRC · 2026 · Co-investigator
$77,198
Exploring social and commercial applications of chatbots
SSHRC · 2021 · Principal investigator
$57,907
Understanding Consumer and Employee Reactions to AI Technologies
SSHRC · 2020 · Principal investigator
$121,084

All 3 grants and awards

4 publications.

01

Mourning the loss of AI companions.

De Freitas J, Castelo N, Uğuralp AK, Oğuz-Uğuralp Z

Nature human behaviour2026

DOI: 10.1038/s41562-026-02569-3 PMID: 42693267

02

Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being.

Castelo N, Kushlev K, Ward AF, Esterman M, Reiner PB

PNAS nexus2025First author

DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf017 PMID: 39967678

03

Cross-Cultural Differences in Comfort with Humanlike Robots.

Castelo N, Sarvary M

International journal of social robotics2022First author

DOI: 10.1007/s12369-022-00920-y PMID: 36120116

04

Conservatism predicts aversion to consequential Artificial Intelligence.

Castelo N, Ward AF

PloS one2021First author

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261467 PMID: 34928989

The System Decides: Moral Outsourcing and the Diffusion of Responsibility in AI-Mediated Customer Service

Co-investigatorSSHRC2026Insight Development Grants

Principal investigators: Mesler, Rhiannon

$77,198

Exploring social and commercial applications of chatbots

Principal investigatorSSHRC2021Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Castelo, Noah

Keywords: chatbot; AI; persuasion; attitudes; marketing

$57,907

Understanding Consumer and Employee Reactions to AI Technologies

Principal investigatorSSHRC2020Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Castelo, Noah

Keywords: psychology of technology; artificial intelligence; human machine interaction; automation; psychology

$121,084

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their SSHRC grant from 2021

Subject: Prospective PhD student: psychology of technology Dear Professor Castelo, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Mourning the loss of AI companions." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "Exploring social and commercial applications of chatbots" (2021), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]