Renwen Zhang
Assistant Professor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeDr Renwen Zhang is an assistant professor and the director of the Social Well-being, Empathy, and Emerging Technologies Lab (SWEET) lab at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research examines how digital technologies mediate and impact well-being and social relationships. She is keenly interested in understanding how people use digital technologies, such as AI chatbots and social media, to seek social support and cope with stress/loneliness, and the impact of such technologies on their mental and social well-being. She has conducted mixed-method research to examine the processes and effects of technology-mediated interpersonal communication, with a particular emphasis on social support, self-disclosure and mental health.
Articles by Renwen Zhang
Technology
China bans AI lovers, but loneliness remains
When man bonds with a machine, depends on it and feels affirmed by it, is a void filled? But what if the mirage disappears or the relationship is taken to extremes? Researcher Renwen Zhang contemplates the psyche behind the rise of AI companions.
Renwen Zhang
14 Aug 2026