Joanna K. Malinowska

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Jagiellonian University

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Joanna K. Malinowska is a leading voice in the philosophy of human-robot interaction (HRI), whose work fundamentally questions how we conceptualize our relationships with social machines. Her research masterfully bridges cognitive science, social robotics, and conceptual analysis to explore a provocative question: can—and should—we truly empathize with robots? In her seminal 2021 paper, *"What Does It Mean to Empathise with a Robot?"* (33 citations), she dismantles the casual use of “empathy” in HRI, arguing that our emotional engagement with robots is a distinct phenomenon requiring precise definition. Expanding this inquiry, *"Can I Feel Your Pain?"* (21 citations) dissects the biological and socio-cognitive factors that drive people to project empathy onto artificial agents, warning against conflating genuine intersubjective feeling with mere anthropomorphic projection. Her 2020 work, *"The Growing Need for Reliable Conceptual Analysis in HRI Studies,"* serves as a methodological manifesto, urging the field to adopt rigorous philosophical tools to avoid conceptual muddles. By challenging researchers to think critically about the language they use, Malinowska has become an essential corrective in a field often driven by technological enthusiasm, ensuring that our understanding of human-robot bonds remains as nuanced as the bonds themselves.