It’s the snuggle struggle.

Kissing, licking, tickling and biting are cool — but the most telltale sign that a person sees you as either a buddy or a main squeeze is in their hug, per new AI-powered data.

“Hugs are an important nonverbal social-affective behavior that plays a crucial role in romantic relationships,” explained study authors from the MSH Medical School Hamburg, Germany, in the September report. 4

“Results showed that romantic partners hugged longer than platonic friends.”

For the findings, researchers, led by Sebastian Ocklenburg, tapped 60 participants — some friends, others lovers — to repeatedly walk towards and embrace one another.

“Videos of hugs were recorded using 14 high-frequency video cameras,” wrote investigators, adding that the footage was th

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