The most terrifying enshittification I've discovered has been learning that Microsoft Word documents no longer auto-save if you are not saving them to one of their own proprietary cloud services. I'm slapping control-S like it's 1999.
Julie Carpenter, PhD
@jgcarpenter.com
Researcher of people and technology. AI, trust, and attachment. Wrote: "The Naked Android: Synthetic Socialness and the Human Gaze" & "Culture and Human-Robot Interaction in Militarized Spaces: A War Story." Blog/essays here: jgcarpenter.com
Really disappointed not to see @jgcarpenter.com quoted or cited here- sure seemed like she broke at least half this story on here almost 2 weeks ago
Y'all remember how they were going to put an AI teacher robot into a high school serving the Seneca Nation of Indians? OF COURSE it was built by a sexbot company. Gift link.
Like a normal person, Bea Arthur already narrates my inner life. Might as well put her on speakerphone.
You suddenly get a narrator describing your life and there’s no way to turn it off - everyone can hear it. While shopping, at work, at home, with friends - the voice narrating your every move goes on. Who do you hope is the voice of this narrator?
Salamanca has paused the robot pilot. The district cited unresolved student data privacy agreements with the state; the state cited concern over humanoid robots in the classroom. nysfocus.com/2026/07/24/n... Thanks @wendynorris.bsky.social
NY School District Hits Pause on Robot Teacher Amid Scrutiny
A Western New York school district is pausing its humanoid robot pilot after state officials raised privacy and classroom concerns.
nysfocus.com
As a robotics researcher, learning scientist, and author who has followed Realbotix for years, I'm compelled to do a Bluesky thread on this whole pivot that Realbotix is now trying, turning from humanoid sex robots to classroom "education" robots. Buckle up. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n... 🧵
I’d have to go with Scooter, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and Fozzie Bear.
if you had to pick three muppets to represent you (not your three favorites) who would you pick? greater henson canon counts. I think I'd go Gonzo, Rizzo and Uncle Deadly.
Instead of shouting "Larry! Look over here!" I hope the journalists are saying pspspspspsps.
Larry laid his mouse in front of the press to be photographed. Lest you ask, this is a real photograph via the Press Association.
I'm doing a course in August about writing about the sex industry! If you're a journalist who wants to know more about this incredibly important industry, please sign up here: courses.outvoice.com/products/liv... (And also everyone should promote this class so I get a lot of signups and money)
New Event
Lux Alptraum will walk you through the basics of reporting on the sex industry. In addition to providing an overview of the different corners of the sex industry, she’ll walk participants through the ...
courses.outvoice.com
I study & teach Jewish sacred texts and autism. Both have taught me to pay attention to what gets pushed to the margins. Sometimes the part everyone dismisses is where the truth has been waiting.
My Bluesky Salamanca robot thread broke containment. I was quoted in this @techspot.bsky.social piece on the school district's purchase of a Realbotix companion model "teaching assistant." Response in new mini 1/🧵 techspot.com/news/113154-new-york-school-deploys-ai-teaching-robot-company.html
New York school deploys AI teaching robot from company linked to sex bots
Located on the Seneca Nation reservation, the rural district will be one of the first to use the humanoid robot, part of Realbotix's M-Series and named Sally....
techspot.com
As a robotics researcher, learning scientist, and author who has followed Realbotix for years, I'm compelled to do a Bluesky thread on this whole pivot that Realbotix is now trying, turning from humanoid sex robots to classroom "education" robots. Buckle up. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n... 🧵
I'm 2 years out of work in UX and this month I'm short on rent and bills. I'm actively looking for UX research roles, open to contract or full-time. If you know of anything, my DMs are open. Ko-fi (below) or Venmo @ jgcarpenter helps me keep going. Every share matters! ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe...
Support Julie Carpenter, PhD (she/her)
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ko-fi.com
People may honestly labor under the belief that ChatGPT is a search engine comparable to the Google of yesteryear. They're mistaken. That's not a difference of opinion. Calling it a search engine, shows you don't understand how LLMs work. ChatGPT is deeply flawed, often in ways invisible to users.
“Used ChatGPT as my search engine” 👀 🫠 Editor-in-Chief of Science
The EIC of the Science journals brushes off his use of ChatGPT as a search engine. His standards should apply to everyone at those journals. He outsourced work to an unreliable source and got caught and he doesn't think it matters.
Hi, this is Holden emerging from my Bluesky hiatus to tell everyone that when checking the links in the piece, I used ChatGPT as my search engine (does anyone use Google anymore?). The piece was written by me and edited by humans. So all the links were checked by me and again by our copyeditors.
My 🧵 from yesterday made me do the thing today: wrote a blog post (no paywall, ever): jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl.... A New York high school is piloting a social female-gendered humanoid robot in a classroom this fall, touted as learning support for teenagers.
To The Old Town Road Oliver Putnam
Alt: “To The Old Town Road!” Shouts actor Martin Short from what appears to be a riding lawnmower? He is flanked in the vehicle by Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. From the show “Only Murders in the Building.”
static.klipy.com
You've been murdered. Who do you want on the case?
As a robotics researcher, learning scientist, and author who has followed Realbotix for years, I'm compelled to do a Bluesky thread on this whole pivot that Realbotix is now trying, turning from humanoid sex robots to classroom "education" robots. Buckle up. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n... 🧵
Rural NY School To Launch Humanoid Robot Teacher
Plans to deploy a "lifelike" robot and avatar teaching assistant at Salamanca High School have sparked debate over the role of technology in schools.
nysfocus.com
Am only eating donuts until this Bad Salad terror is over.
I'm also concerned how the results of these proposed T-tests will be weaponized against troops, male and female, within the military and potentially in their ongoing care by the Veterans Health Administration under this regime.
Thank you. Been waiting for this. OTOH, I don’t want to remind him women exist. This whole thing will either not come to fruition for anyone (many reasons) or be turned into more horribly invasive testing and procedures in their weird Frankensteinian effort to make some kind of uber-(male)warrior.
Thank you. Been waiting for this. OTOH, I don’t want to remind him women exist. This whole thing will either not come to fruition for anyone (many reasons) or be turned into more horribly invasive testing and procedures in their weird Frankensteinian effort to make some kind of uber-(male)warrior.
this is not remotely my beat, so for anyone whose it is: is hegseth ordering women to get screened for low testosterone or has he just memory-holed the fact that female troops exist
America is not a nation of immigrants. We're a nation of survivors. And every soft-ass pampered and selfish bitch who has forgotten what that means, either immigrant or homegrown, is a detriment to our survival.
let this be your reminder that generations of kids didn't grow up wanting to be the guy who funded the park, they grew up wanting to be the knowledgeable, awe-struck scientist
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.
Hey guys meta announced a new policy where they send a killer to get you so be sure to go to settings>my account > killer> disable killer to turn that off
The admission underneath every one of these stories is always the same: the system was never built to solve the problem it claims to solve. This was built to be sold first...and accountability lives where? jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
🤷🏿♂️
"Drift" runs on reader support, not ad revenue or platform incentives. If the recent piece on surveillance capitalism was useful to you, consider donating to keep it that way! ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe... jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
"Drift" runs on reader support, not ad revenue or platform incentives. If the recent piece on surveillance capitalism was useful to you, consider donating to keep it that way! ko-fi.com/drjuliecarpe... jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
New essay: Companies tell us mass surveillance is inevitable, so we should accept it for our safety and convenience. It's not inevitable, it is a business model and a border enforcement strategy, and the two are more tangled together than many people want to admit. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
New essay: Companies tell us mass surveillance is inevitable, so we should accept it for our safety and convenience. It's not inevitable, it is a business model and a border enforcement strategy, and the two are more tangled together than many people want to admit. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
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...