In his influential work on moral psychology and technology, Adam Waytz argued that modern technologies such as social media, artificial intelligence, and online communication systems profoundly shape empathy, dehumanization, and moral behaviour by altering how people perceive one another’s humanity. In particular, Waytz’s 2020 discussions and related research emphasised that online environments can both expand social connection and weaken face-to-face empathic concern, often encouraging emotional distance, polarisation, and the dehumanisation of socially distant groups.

Building on earlier studies with Nicholas Epley and John T. Cacioppo, Waytz showed that humans frequently anthropomorphise machines and technologies, attributing minds and moral agency to them, which in turn affects trust, responsibility, and moral judgment. Epley’s work (2007–2014) explored anthropomorphism and social cognition, demonstrating that loneliness and social needs can lead people to treat technological objects as humanlike, while Cacioppo’s research on social neuroscience and loneliness highlighted the psychological consequences of weakened human connection.

Another major contributor is Kurt Gray, whose 2018 collaboration with Waytz examined whether online technology increases or diminishes sociability, empathy, and emotional intelligence, concluding that digital interaction has complex and mixed moral effects. Scholars such as Paul Slovic also contributed by studying how dehumanization reduces compassion toward immigrants and vulnerable populations, especially in technologically mediated political discourse.

From a Christian perspective, this field is deeply important because Scripture teaches that every person is created in the image of God (“So God created mankind in his own image,” Genesis 1:27, NIV), and therefore must never be reduced to an object, stereotype, or data point. Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31) and the theological emphasis on compassion, dignity, and incarnational relationships challenge tendencies toward online hostility and technological dehumanization. Christian thinkers such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas stressed that moral flourishing depends upon rightly ordered love, virtue, and community, principles highly relevant to the ethical use of digital technology today.

The value of this research for personal wellbeing lies in its encouragement of empathy, healthy communication, and mindful technology use, all of which support emotional resilience and meaningful relationships, while its societal value includes reducing polarisation, improving ethical technology design, strengthening democratic discourse, and promoting a culture that recognises the humanity and dignity of all people.