Julie Carpenter

For the musician, see Less Bells.

Julie Carpenter
Born
Julie Gwyn Wajdyk

Madison, WI, US
Known forQ (nonbinary voice), AI ethics, soldier social relationships with robots, human sexuality and robots
Scientific career
Institutions
Websitewww.jgcarpenter.com

Julie Carpenter, born Julie Gwyn Wajdyk, is an American researcher whose work focuses on human behavior with emerging technologies, especially within vulnerable and marginalized populations. She is best known for her work in human attachment to robots and other forms of artificial intelligence.[1][2][3][4][5]

Education

Carpenter has a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from the University of Washington,[6] an M.S. in Technical Communication/Human-Computer Interaction from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a second M.S. from the Technical Communication (now Human-Centered Design and Engineering) program at the University of Washington, and a B.A. in Communication Arts (Film, Radio, and Television Theory) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Work

Her 2016 book Culture and Human-Robot Interaction in Militarized Spaces: A War Story explores the social role of robots in the military, specifically experiences reported by Explosive Ordinance Disposal personnel and their social interactions with robots they use in their work. More recently, the 2025 book The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze discusses the connection among how peoples' expectations and perceptions robots are based on cultural interpretations of artificial versus human intelligence and what problems a person believes should or should not be addressed by artificial entities.[7]

Carpenter examines human sexuality and robotic systems in Sex Robots: Social and ethical implications.[8] In her chapter "Deux sex machina: Loving robot sex workers and the allure of an insincere kiss", she proposes incorporating a temporal component to Mori's Uncanny Valley hypothesis to account for individual changes in feelings of familiarity after repeated exposure to humanoid robots, as well as larger cultural shifts of acceptance toward humanoid robots over time.

Carpenter has said in interviews that she has been influenced by the robot designs of David Hanson and the science fiction writing of Zenna Henderson and Philip K. Dick.[9]

Her work also includes acting as a volunteer research consultant to collaborate with VICE and VIRTUE Nordic on Q, the world's first nonbinary human voice for use with technology.[10][11][12] In 2019, Q won the Glass Lion for Change[13] and three bronze Lions in audio categories at Cannes. She also gave a 2016 TEDx talk in Odense, Denmark, Humans + Robots: Dream Machines.[14]

Carpenter made the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics List in 2019[15] and 2020[16] and was part of the Women in AI Ethics Council, 2020 spearheading Roles & Rights dimension of WAIE Ethical Framework.[17]

Publications

Books

  • The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze (2025). UK: CRC Press/Routledge[7]
  • Culture and Human-Robot Interaction in Militarized Spaces: A War Story, author, 2016. UK: Routledge/Taylor & Francis[18]
  • Deus Sex Machina: Loving Robot Sex Workers and the Allure of an Insincere Kiss, 2017. In J. Danaher and N. MacArthur (Eds.), Sex Robots: Social, Ethical, and Legal Implications. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA[19]
  • Kill Switch: The Evolution of Road Rage in an Increasingly AI Car Culture, 2020. In E. DeVisser, R. Pak, and E. Rovira (Eds.), Living with robots: Emerging issues on the psychological and social implications of robotics. Amsterdam: Elsevier[20]
  • Robots as Solace and the Valence of Loneliness, 2021. In Aifric Campbell (Ed.), The Love Makers. UK: Goldsmiths Press[21][22]
  • A Solitary Thing: Emotional Intimacy and the Idea of Cheating in Committed Human-Human Relationships with a Robot, In press, expected 2022. In Jordi Vallverdú (Ed.), Gender in AI and Robotics: The Gender Challenges from an Interdisciplinary Perspective. UAB, Ed. Switzerland: Springer

Selected publications

  • Why Project Q is more than the world's first nonbinary voice for technology, author, 2019[23]
  • Gender Representation and Humanoid Robots Designed for Domestic Use, co-author, 2009[24]

References

  1. ^ de La Porte, Xavier (September 26, 2013). "Funeral for a machine". France Culture. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  2. ^ Palus, Shannon. "We Fall in Love With Space Robots Because They Act Like Animals". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  3. ^ "Quand les soldats tiennent trop à leurs machines". 20 Minutes. September 20, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Robertson, Adi (September 19, 2013). "If an explosives robot becomes your friend, can you still send it off to die?". The Verge. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Chayka, Kyle (February 18, 2014). "As Military Robots Increase, So Does the Complexity of Their Relationship With Soldiers". Newsweek. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  6. ^ "Julie Carpenter, PhD". jgcarpenter.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  8. ^ McArthur, Neil; Danaher, John (2018). Robot sex: social and ethical implications. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. pp. 314 pages. ISBN 9780262536028. OCLC 1055562620.
  9. ^ Carpenter, Julie; Booth, Brianna. "Julie Carpenter and Brianna Booth: AI and Sex". CiisPod. CIIS Public Programs. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  10. ^ Simon, Matt. "The Genderless Digital Voice the World Needs Right Now". Wired. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Mortada, Dalia. "Meet Q, The Gender-Neutral Voice Assistant". National Public Radio. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Dreyfuss, Emily. "The Terrible Joy of Yelling at Alexa". Wired. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  13. ^ Koigi, Bob. "VIRTUE brings home 7 Cannes Lions awards with Carlings adDRESS_THE_FUTURE and 'Q' the worlds first Genderless Voice". Dutch Creative Industry. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  14. ^ Carpenter, Julie (April 2016). "Humans + Robots: Dream Machines". YouTube. Tedx Talks. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  15. ^ Dand, Mia (February 20, 2020). "100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics to Follow in 2019 and beyond". Medium. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  16. ^ LH3_Admin (December 8, 2019). "100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics for 2020". Lighthouse3. Retrieved December 3, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "DIVERSITY + ETHICS IN AI - 2020" (PDF). Lighthouse3. 2020.
  18. ^ Carpenter, Julie (2016). Culture and Human-Robot Interaction in Militarized Spaces: A War Story. Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, VT: Ashgate. pp. 165 pages. ISBN 9781472443113. OCLC 930786344.
  19. ^ Carpenter, Julie (October 2017). Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications. The MIT Press. ISBN 9780262036689. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  20. ^ Living with robots : emerging issues on the psychological and social. Richard Pak, Ewart J. de Visser, Ericka Rovira. London: Academic Press. 2020. ISBN 978-0-12-815635-3. OCLC 1129971619.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. ^ Tuttle, Lisa (November 12, 2021). "The Best Recent Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror". The Guardian.
  22. ^ Campbell, Aifric (2021). The love makers : a novel and contributor essays on the social impact of artificial intelligence and robotics. London. ISBN 978-1-912685-83-7. OCLC 1285524040.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ Carpenter, Julie (November–December 2019). "Why Project Q Is More Than The Worlds First Nonbinary Voice For Technology Target". ACM Interactions. XXVI (6): 56. doi:10.1145/3358912. S2CID 207862392. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  24. ^ Carpenter, Julie; Erwin-Stewart, N.; Lee, T.; Bransford, J.; Vye, N. (February 15, 2009). "Gender Representation in Humanoid Robots for Domestic Use". International Journal of Social Robotics. 1 (3): 261–265. doi:10.1007/s12369-009-0016-4. S2CID 31454883. Retrieved February 20, 2020.