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About

Jennifer Rhee is a scholar whose work sits at the fascinating intersection of literature, robotics, and cultural theory, with a particular focus on how human identity is constructed, challenged, and reimagined through our relationships with artificial beings. Best known for her landmark book *The Robotic Imaginary* (2018), which has accumulated over 212 citations and stands as a cornerstone text in the field, Rhee interrogates how robots and artificial intelligence function as cultural mirrors, reflecting and reinforcing assumptions about labor, dehumanization, and what it means to be human. Her companion essay of the same title further explores the troubling economics of dehumanized labor through a robotic lens, garnering an additional 46 citations. Earlier work, including her 2013 essay on Masahiro Mori's uncanny valley theory in dialogue with Philip K. Dick's science fiction, demonstrates her distinctive ability to bridge engineering discourse and humanistic inquiry. Her 2010 dissertation research on anthropomorphic attachments laid the theoretical groundwork for these later contributions, positioning the human as a relational, contested concept rather than a fixed category. Rhee's scholarship has made her an essential voice for anyone grappling with artificial intelligence's cultural and ethical dimensions.