Julie Carpenter, PhD
banner
jgcarpenter.com
Julie Carpenter, PhD
@jgcarpenter.com
Researcher of people and technology. AI & attachment. Learning scientist. UXR. Golems. Robots. Cat pics. New book, “The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze.” jgcarpenter.com
I had a book come out this year! “The Naked Android” explores the connections between the stories people tell, their expectations of what a robot is, and how these beliefs and values manifest in how real robots are designed and used.

www.routledge.com/The-Naked-An...
November 25, 2025 at 9:49 PM
If you’d like to support my writing and help me stay afloat while I’m job searching and managing medical care costs, it means a lot! Sharing this link helps, too. You can check out my blog posts at ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe...
Support Dr. Julie Carpenter (she/her)
Support Dr. Julie Carpenter (she/her)
ko-fi.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:25 PM
AI doesn’t see you, it categorizes you. Yet the categorization feeds back into your life in very human ways: risk scores, eligibility, moderation decisions. "The Work of Being Read" is basically about that loop and what it costs.

jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
November 24, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
New essay is up (no paywall): "The Work of Being Read." It’s about how our behavior shifts when we know AI is watching, interpreting, & scoring us, often incorrectly, but w/ real consequences at home, work, and school. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
November 23, 2025 at 7:07 PM
New essay is up (no paywall): "The Work of Being Read." It’s about how our behavior shifts when we know AI is watching, interpreting, & scoring us, often incorrectly, but w/ real consequences at home, work, and school. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
November 23, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
New goal up on Ko-Fi for continued help with living and medical expenses. New essay (no paywall): "The Work of Being Read." How the performance of self reorganizes under the pressure of being endlessly interpreted by AI.
ko-fi.com/post/The-Wor...

Sharing the link helps as much as donating!
"The Work of Being Read"
Dr. Julie Carpenter (she/her) published a post on Ko-fi
ko-fi.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:50 PM
New goal up on Ko-Fi for continued help with living and medical expenses. New essay (no paywall): "The Work of Being Read." How the performance of self reorganizes under the pressure of being endlessly interpreted by AI.
ko-fi.com/post/The-Wor...

Sharing the link helps as much as donating!
"The Work of Being Read"
Dr. Julie Carpenter (she/her) published a post on Ko-fi
ko-fi.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:50 PM
This archbishop birthday rave has everything. A pope from Chicago. Dancing clergy. Swiss guard. It’s giving “we know how to party in Piazza San Pietro.”
He said "Amen" straight into the drop

Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible
November 21, 2025 at 10:05 PM
GenAI’s parasocial moment reveals a gap: systems designed for output are being mistaken for systems built for understanding. Researchers in human–AI interaction have been documenting this tension for a long time. The rush to treat it as fresh insight says a lot about how the field gets narrated.
November 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
In Star magazine, I talked about how parasocial habits aren’t new, but genAI systems deepen them by design. They rely on familiar social cues, which makes it easy for people to respond as if there’s a mutual relationship when there isn’t one. starmagazine.com/parasocial-r...
Parasocial Relationships With AI Inspire Cambridge Dictionary Word Of The Year — And Warnings From Experts
The Cambridge Dictionary 2025 Word of the Year is “parasocial,” a term long used to describe the one-sided relationship between an obsessed fan and a celebrity, but which is now used to describe one-s...
starmagazine.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"Parasocial bonds with technology aren't a personal failing; they're an expected outcome of systems built to optimize attention and retention." I’m quoted in Star today about how AI systems are built to feel familiar and likable through social cues. starmagazine.com/parasocial-r...
Parasocial Relationships With AI Inspire Cambridge Dictionary Word Of The Year — And Warnings From Experts
The Cambridge Dictionary 2025 Word of the Year is “parasocial,” a term long used to describe the one-sided relationship between an obsessed fan and a celebrity, but which is now used to describe one-s...
starmagazine.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
If you’d like to support my writing and help me stay afloat while I’m job searching and managing medical care, it means a lot! Signal-boosting helps as much as donating; if you can share my Ko-fi link, that visibility matters. ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe...
Support Dr. Julie Carpenter
Support Dr. Julie Carpenter
ko-fi.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:58 PM
My new goal is live on Ko-fi! If you’d like to support my writing and help me stay afloat while I’m job searching and managing medical care, it means a lot.

PS While you’re there, check out essays on people and AI from my blog (no paywall): ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe...
Support Dr. Julie Carpenter
Support Dr. Julie Carpenter
ko-fi.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:42 PM
My new goal is live on Ko-fi! If you’d like to support my writing and help me stay afloat while I’m job searching and managing medical care, it means a lot.

PS While you’re there, check out essays on people and AI from my blog (no paywall): ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe...
November 16, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Hey it was a child rape club not Brigadoon.
Seriously, what is wrong with these people?
November 16, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I’ve said before that two of my sci-fi heroes that made a huge impression on me as a kid were both in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”: human-alien communication expert Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut) and cartographer/translator David Laughlin (Bob Balaban). youtu.be/JeeZA4B1qyI?...
November 15, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I will be a panelist on the upcoming "Code, Command, and Consequences: Ethics in the Age of Autonomous Weapons." I researched & wrote the book "Culture and Human-Robot Interaction in Militarized Spaces: A War Story." Register: events.scu.edu/ethics/event/ethics-age-autonomous-weapons
November 13, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
A playlist for y'all featuring some of my various interviews on AI, emotional attachment, ethics, and human-technology relationships.
open.spotify.com/playlist/47A...
Julie Carpenter, PhD
open.spotify.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Russia has a rich history of similar robot "innovations" that were definitely ready for public rollout when launched. youtu.be/P_CDu1hYXxk?...
November 11, 2025 at 7:43 PM
🎯
Joyce completely forgets social media exists in the intervals between posts, Elon wakes up at 3am drenched in flop sweat after a nightmare in which no one liked the AI-rendered image of Ayn Rand pissing on the Star Trek logo that he spent six hours honing the prompt for
joyce carol oates and elon musk are the social media avatars of the true fearless poster and the sniveling reply guy lol
November 12, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Russia has a rich history of similar robot "innovations" that were definitely ready for public rollout when launched. youtu.be/P_CDu1hYXxk?...
November 11, 2025 at 7:43 PM
“They use emotional mirroring and personalization, which adapts to your speech patterns, tone, and mood. It reinforces that illusion of a human-like exchange.” I was interviewed about Grok's Ani and Valentine sexually charged chatbots in the NY Post: nypost.com/2025/11/04/l...
Exclusive | Inside the super steamy world of AI sex bots — here’s what really happens when you get down with digital hotties
Come with me if you want to love.
nypost.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Scientists and scholars in AI and its social impacts call on von der Leyen to retract #AIHype statement.

@olivia.science
@abeba.bsky.social
@irisvanrooij.bsky.social
@alexhanna.bsky.social
@rocher.lc
@danmcquillan.bsky.social
@robin.berjon.com
& many others have signed

www.iccl.ie/press-releas...
Scientists call on the President of the European Commission to retract AI hype statement
Experts in AI call on the President of the European Commission to retract unscientific AI hype statement she made in the budget speech.
www.iccl.ie
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Tired of being unemployed when my work is what companies say they need: making complex systems clear, usable. I’ve spent years designing human-centered research & translating user insights into decisions that make products and experiences better. DM #UX research leads! jgcarpenter.com #AI #HCI #HRI
Julie Carpenter, PhD
jgcarpenter.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM