Working across media studies, philosophy, semiotics, and critical technology studies, Mantello investigates how technical systems mediate human agency and reshape the terms through which people understand themselves and others.
His recent work focuses on emotional AI, biosemiotics, grief technologies, artificial companionship, workplace neurotechnology, and dataveillance. A recurring concern is the distribution of meaning and authority across human–machine relations: who interprets, who acts, and who is made legible to whom.
His research has examined emotional AI in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany through international projects supported by bodies including JSPS, JST, UKRI, ESRC, and AHRC.
Alongside research and teaching, he convenes interdisciplinary conversations among academics, artists, designers, and technologists about the cultural imaginaries surrounding artificial intelligence.