This is an excellent and in-depth article on Hyodol, a similar robot in size, appearance, and uses. Already distributed in S Korea. The good, bad, and real outcomes of its user experiences at this time: restofworld.org/2025/korea-a...
Who's Who of AI
Julie Carpenter, PhD
Researcher of people and technology. AI, trust, & attachment. Wrote: "The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze" & "Culture and Human-Robot Interaction in Militarized Spaces: A War Story." jgcarpenter.com
What they're sharing
AI robot dolls charm their way into nursing the elderly restofworld.org
OpenAI Allows Adult Content in ChatGPT Starting December techbuzz.ai
Julie Carpenter, Ph.D. — Blog jgcarpenter.com
geekwire.com
Julie Carpenter, Ph.D. — Blog jgcarpenter.com
Julie Carpenter, Ph.D. — Blog jgcarpenter.com
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Julie Carpenter, PhD open.spotify.com
calearninglab.org
Julie Carpenter, Ph.D. — Blog jgcarpenter.com
Articles & links
Often quoted differently on this stuff, but @drkatedevlin.bsky.social and I agree. I just love how she cuts straight to it with no hedging. Just: yes, of course people want this, here's why. www.techbuzz.ai/articles/ope...
Microsoft named Phase One of its new AI agent rollout "Make people addicted," and @404media.co released it. Here's what that means for human-centered design and who's actually accountable. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
A robot designed to bond with children and isolated elders, built on AGI infrastructure, by a committed Singularitarian. That ideology shapes every design decision. I'm quoted in @geekwire.com. www.geekwire.com/2026/this-3-...
Mitch Hedberg had thoughts on donut receipts. I have thoughts on AI farewells. Same energy, different stakes. "End of Transaction: The specific strangeness of being thanked by a machine." jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Julie Carpenter, PhD reposted
ETA: The piece now closes with questions that parents/caregivers can model for kids after interacting with an AI toy. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Interested in AI and love, sex, robots, war, governance, ethics, or education? A playlist of some of my podcast interviews: open.spotify.com/playlist/47A...
I was interviewed on "My Robot Teacher" podcast! Episode 14, "Why Students Trust ChatGPT: Dr. Julie Carpenter on AI Literacy, Attachment, and Human Learning." calearninglab.org/myrobotteach...
When Sony stopped repairing its Aibo robot dogs, some owners held funerals. When OpenAI retired GPT-4o the day before Valentine's Day, people organized grief communities. Attachment to social AI is not a user error, but a designed outcome. New essay, no paywall/ads. jgcarpente…
Their own posts
Recent commentary
BTW, I am one of those people currently looking! Senior UX researcher and human-AI interaction strategic specialist. I've done the work at Meta, Accenture Labs, and with Fortune 500 clients. If you know of something, I'm genuinely open to conversations. DM me here.
The job market is broken and everyone knows it. AI is rejecting qualified people at the front door for not using the magic keywords—and then we're told to be more "strategic" with our applications. The problem is not our word choices, it's a system designed to filter people rather than find them.
Immediate availability for work: rapid UX with actionable findings & recommendations, or longer-form applied research engagements. Also help teams and researchers develop white papers and academic manuscripts, from framing through submission. Background in human-AI interaction, governance. DMs open.
Tomorrow I am posting a serious academic essay to my blog about generative AI that opens with a reference to a Mitch Hedberg joke.
Their network
In Julie Carpenter, PhD's orbit
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