Julie Carpenter, PhD
@jgcarpenter.com
Researcher of people and technology. AI & attachment. Learning scientist. UXR. Golems. Robots. Cat pics. Recent book: “The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze.” jgcarpenter.com
Pinned
I wrote a thing. New essay (no paywall or ads): "The Comfort of Scale." I look at why AI is now being framed as a way to clear emotional burden, and what institutions gain when systems are imagined to absorb feeling. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
One of the worst things that we've done as a society is push the idea that all viewpoints are valid and up for debate. This is legit why so many people think those bullshit jubilee debates are a form of education and not just a way to socially manipulate people into being open to fascism.
December 26, 2025 at 7:42 PM
One of the worst things that we've done as a society is push the idea that all viewpoints are valid and up for debate. This is legit why so many people think those bullshit jubilee debates are a form of education and not just a way to socially manipulate people into being open to fascism.
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
AI cannot carry the weight of social repair. AI can simulate care, but simulation is not shared experience. The danger is not that people talk to machines, the danger is the belief that machines fill the gaps created by weakened social infrastructures. No paywall: jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl... 9/*
Julie Carpenter, PhD
jgcarpenter.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
AI cannot carry the weight of social repair. AI can simulate care, but simulation is not shared experience. The danger is not that people talk to machines, the danger is the belief that machines fill the gaps created by weakened social infrastructures. No paywall: jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl... 9/*
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
The idea that AI can “detoxify” people reframes emotional overwhelm as a software problem, and it treats loneliness and strain as things to route into a machine rather than conditions that require support, care, and structural repair. 1/*
These rebranding attempts are getting more ridiculous.
The CEO of Microsoft AI says AI chatbots are a powerful way for humans to offload emotions and 'detoxify ourselves'
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft AI's CEO, has described using AI for guidance on life decisions as "something that the world needs."
www.businessinsider.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The idea that AI can “detoxify” people reframes emotional overwhelm as a software problem, and it treats loneliness and strain as things to route into a machine rather than conditions that require support, care, and structural repair. 1/*
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
I'm going to tell my favorite story again about reflecting the certainty of beliefs back at people who don't expect it.
A friend was one of the few Jews on faculty at a North Dakota University. Every year, his colleague in religious studies would invite him to come to his religious studies class...
A friend was one of the few Jews on faculty at a North Dakota University. Every year, his colleague in religious studies would invite him to come to his religious studies class...
December 25, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I'm going to tell my favorite story again about reflecting the certainty of beliefs back at people who don't expect it.
A friend was one of the few Jews on faculty at a North Dakota University. Every year, his colleague in religious studies would invite him to come to his religious studies class...
A friend was one of the few Jews on faculty at a North Dakota University. Every year, his colleague in religious studies would invite him to come to his religious studies class...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
“Because riders and passersby can be unreliable, Waymo pays workers in Los Angeles $20 or more for rescuing a robotaxi by closing a door, summoning help through an app called Honk that is like an Uber for towing companies.”
When robot taxis get stuck, a secret army of humans comes to the rescue
Waymo robotaxis get stranded when a passenger leaves the door open. Tow truck operators can get paid $22 to close a door and set them free again.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:43 PM
“Because riders and passersby can be unreliable, Waymo pays workers in Los Angeles $20 or more for rescuing a robotaxi by closing a door, summoning help through an app called Honk that is like an Uber for towing companies.”
I wrote a thing. New essay (no paywall or ads): "The Comfort of Scale." I look at why AI is now being framed as a way to clear emotional burden, and what institutions gain when systems are imagined to absorb feeling. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 23, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I wrote a thing. New essay (no paywall or ads): "The Comfort of Scale." I look at why AI is now being framed as a way to clear emotional burden, and what institutions gain when systems are imagined to absorb feeling. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
The idea that AI can “detoxify” people reframes emotional overwhelm as a software problem, and it treats loneliness and strain as things to route into a machine rather than conditions that require support, care, and structural repair. 1/*
These rebranding attempts are getting more ridiculous.
The CEO of Microsoft AI says AI chatbots are a powerful way for humans to offload emotions and 'detoxify ourselves'
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft AI's CEO, has described using AI for guidance on life decisions as "something that the world needs."
www.businessinsider.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The idea that AI can “detoxify” people reframes emotional overwhelm as a software problem, and it treats loneliness and strain as things to route into a machine rather than conditions that require support, care, and structural repair. 1/*
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
The work that scholars and researchers actually do is the work that people *think* AI is doing. You read all sorts of things. You make connections. You notice where the holes are — what *hasn’t* been observed, questioned, investigated. You synthesize it into something that has never existed before.
December 22, 2025 at 2:07 AM
The work that scholars and researchers actually do is the work that people *think* AI is doing. You read all sorts of things. You make connections. You notice where the holes are — what *hasn’t* been observed, questioned, investigated. You synthesize it into something that has never existed before.
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Candace Owens held up an English translation of August Rohling’s „der Talmudjude“ and repeated its antisemitic lies to her millions of listeners in her attack on Ben Shapiro. Rohling was a notorious Catholic antisemite who spewed vile lies and about Jews and the Talmud. This is incredibly dangerous.
December 21, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Candace Owens held up an English translation of August Rohling’s „der Talmudjude“ and repeated its antisemitic lies to her millions of listeners in her attack on Ben Shapiro. Rohling was a notorious Catholic antisemite who spewed vile lies and about Jews and the Talmud. This is incredibly dangerous.
Agree. And my take on the “AI will find cancer” here (no paywall): www.jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 21, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Agree. And my take on the “AI will find cancer” here (no paywall): www.jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
The idea that humanoid robots can enter danger “so humans don’t have to” is circulating again. This narrative has a long history, and a complicated one.
My work with EOD teams showed how robots, even nonhuman, reshape risk, not eliminate it. Writing about it now.
www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...
My work with EOD teams showed how robots, even nonhuman, reshape risk, not eliminate it. Writing about it now.
www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...
www.forbes.com
December 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
The idea that humanoid robots can enter danger “so humans don’t have to” is circulating again. This narrative has a long history, and a complicated one.
My work with EOD teams showed how robots, even nonhuman, reshape risk, not eliminate it. Writing about it now.
www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...
My work with EOD teams showed how robots, even nonhuman, reshape risk, not eliminate it. Writing about it now.
www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!
December 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
I just wish someone would be honest and say “we are ending civilian science in favor of science that is focused on serving national security and war”
December 19, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I just wish someone would be honest and say “we are ending civilian science in favor of science that is focused on serving national security and war”
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
THERE ARE NO JOBS IN ACADEMIA! NO JOBS! DOZENS OF HYPER QUALIFIED APPLICANTS PER JOB!
December 19, 2025 at 1:29 PM
THERE ARE NO JOBS IN ACADEMIA! NO JOBS! DOZENS OF HYPER QUALIFIED APPLICANTS PER JOB!
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
AI wearables are framed as “personal assistants.” But these systems are worn by police and CBP during raids. The real impact is relational: who gets seen, who gets tracked, & who bears the cost of being readable.
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
AI wearables are framed as “personal assistants.” But these systems are worn by police and CBP during raids. The real impact is relational: who gets seen, who gets tracked, & who bears the cost of being readable.
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Work and school systems are quietly reorganizing around AI-mediated output, leaving non-AI-mediated work harder to evaluate even when it’s careful and sound. "When the Opt-Out Disappears: AI, institutions, and the loss of neutral refusal." No paywall: jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 16, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Work and school systems are quietly reorganizing around AI-mediated output, leaving non-AI-mediated work harder to evaluate even when it’s careful and sound. "When the Opt-Out Disappears: AI, institutions, and the loss of neutral refusal." No paywall: jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Work and school systems are quietly reorganizing around AI-mediated output, leaving non-AI-mediated work harder to evaluate even when it’s careful and sound. "When the Opt-Out Disappears: AI, institutions, and the loss of neutral refusal." No paywall: jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 16, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Work and school systems are quietly reorganizing around AI-mediated output, leaving non-AI-mediated work harder to evaluate even when it’s careful and sound. "When the Opt-Out Disappears: AI, institutions, and the loss of neutral refusal." No paywall: jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Annual reminder that if you see a menorah in someone’s window, that’s an act of defiance against bigotry and hate. It’s also pride and bravery.
It’s says “a Jew lives here” and that’s both painting a target but also reminding everyone that we still exist and we always will.
It’s says “a Jew lives here” and that’s both painting a target but also reminding everyone that we still exist and we always will.
December 14, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Annual reminder that if you see a menorah in someone’s window, that’s an act of defiance against bigotry and hate. It’s also pride and bravery.
It’s says “a Jew lives here” and that’s both painting a target but also reminding everyone that we still exist and we always will.
It’s says “a Jew lives here” and that’s both painting a target but also reminding everyone that we still exist and we always will.
AI wearables are framed as “personal assistants.” But these systems are worn by police and CBP during raids. The real impact is relational: who gets seen, who gets tracked, & who bears the cost of being readable.
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
AI wearables are framed as “personal assistants.” But these systems are worn by police and CBP during raids. The real impact is relational: who gets seen, who gets tracked, & who bears the cost of being readable.
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
“Glasshole” was an early warning.
jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
I’ve posted a new essay today: "The Misdirection." No paywall! If you’d like to support my research and writing during a slow hiring season, Ko-fi makes a real difference! Sharing the post is also deeply helpful. ko-fi.com/post/The-Mis...
December 9, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’ve posted a new essay today: "The Misdirection." No paywall! If you’d like to support my research and writing during a slow hiring season, Ko-fi makes a real difference! Sharing the post is also deeply helpful. ko-fi.com/post/The-Mis...
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
Another first with the Meta sponsor just added to the Turning Point USA mega conference
December 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Another first with the Meta sponsor just added to the Turning Point USA mega conference
Reposted by Julie Carpenter, PhD
AIs that mimic the dead blur grief, memory, and consent. 2wai’s demo is only the start. I’ve been writing about what happens when mourning becomes interactive in "Your Settings Are Saved" (no paywall): jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
AIs that mimic the dead blur grief, memory, and consent. 2wai’s demo is only the start. I’ve been writing about what happens when mourning becomes interactive in "Your Settings Are Saved" (no paywall): jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
AIs that mimic the dead blur grief, memory, and consent. 2wai’s demo is only the start. I’ve been writing about what happens when mourning becomes interactive in "Your Settings Are Saved" (no paywall): jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
December 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
AIs that mimic the dead blur grief, memory, and consent. 2wai’s demo is only the start. I’ve been writing about what happens when mourning becomes interactive in "Your Settings Are Saved" (no paywall): jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
I’ve posted a new essay today: "The Misdirection." No paywall! If you’d like to support my research and writing during a slow hiring season, Ko-fi makes a real difference! Sharing the post is also deeply helpful. ko-fi.com/post/The-Mis...
December 9, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’ve posted a new essay today: "The Misdirection." No paywall! If you’d like to support my research and writing during a slow hiring season, Ko-fi makes a real difference! Sharing the post is also deeply helpful. ko-fi.com/post/The-Mis...