Ryan Kim
Founding Director & Principal Investigator
Ryan Research Institute, Paris
Research Professor, Kwangwoon University, Seoul
Human–AI Governance · Interpretive Authority · Affective Sovereignty · AI Evaluation
Paris, France
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2751-496X
Email: ryan@ryanresearch.org
Substack: https://substack.com/@profryankim
About the Institute
Ryan Research Institute (RRI) is a Paris-based independent research institute studying Human–AI Governance, interpretive authority, affective AI, and the governance of computational inference about people.
Its central concern is not only whether an AI inference is accurate, but when that inference begins to acquire epistemic or institutional authority—and what rights of contestation, correction, refusal, and reinterpretation should remain with the person.
RRI develops Affective Sovereignty and Interpretive Authority as a connected research programme spanning human–AI interaction, AI evaluation, narrative–affect geometry, measurement validity, philosophy of mind, and institutional design.
The institute produces peer-reviewed research, open datasets and research resources, books, graduate teaching, and public and policy scholarship.
Selected Research Record
- Peer-reviewed work in Communications AI & Computing, Acta Psychologica, PLOS ONE, Computers in Human Behavior Reports, Discover Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning with Applications, and Data in Brief.
- Large-scale narrative–affect research built on 351,734 relationship narratives, with public research resources released through Zenodo.
- Research programme spanning Affective Sovereignty, Interpretive Authority, Algorithmic Affective Blunting, the Affective Thermodynamic Relationship, Mental AI, and Human–AI Governance.
Academic & AI Research Memberships
- Full Member, International Association for Safe & Ethical AI (IASEAI)
- Full Member, Italian Society for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (SIpEIA)
- Member, ACM – Association for Computing Machinery
- Full Member, SGAI – Specialist Group on Artificial Intelligence (BCS specialist group)
- Member, EurAI – European Association for Artificial Intelligence (via BCS-SGAI)
- Lifetime Member, KSAI
- Full Member, Korean Artificial Intelligence Association (KAIA)
Academic Appointment & Research Leadership
- Research Professor, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 2026–present — Human–AI Governance research and graduate teaching. This appointment is separate from RRI; Ryan Research Institute remains an independent Paris-based institute.
- Founding Director & Principal Investigator, Ryan Research Institute, Paris — independent research programme on interpretive authority, affective AI, measurement validity, and AI governance.
Professional & Editorial Roles
- Senior Specialized Reporter & Editorial Board Member, 보건의료신문 — AI·Mental Health / Interpretive Rights, 2026–present. Dedicated editorial initiative on AI-mediated interpretation of emotion, mental states, vulnerability, and human behavior across healthcare, welfare, counseling, digital health, law, policy, and human–AI interaction. Appointment and section launch announcement, 24 August 2026
Selected Public Engagement
- 2026 | Interview: “Who Gets to Interpret Our Minds in the Age of AI?”, 보건의료신문. Read the interview
Other Professional Affiliations
- Lifetime Member, Korean Academic Society of Business Administration (KASBA)
- Registered Artist, Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA)
- Lifetime Member, Korean Artist Welfare Foundation (KAWF)
“The question is not only whether AI reads emotion accurately, but who gains authority from that reading.”
Research Position
RRI begins from a simple claim: emotional life is not only felt. It is interpreted under conditions of power.
As emotion-aware AI systems become capable of labeling, predicting, ranking, and responding to affect, the central risk is not limited to misclassification. The deeper risk is the transfer of interpretive authority: systems begin to make emotional meaning operational before the person has named, revised, refused, or contested that meaning.
Affective Sovereignty is the principle that interpretation should not be fully delegated. AI systems may support reflection, care, education, and decision-making, but they should not structurally outrank the person as the final interpreter of their own emotional life.
This is a psychological, ethical, and governance problem. It concerns dignity, autonomy, contestability, and the design of institutions that act on emotional inference.
Research & Applied R&D Collaboration
RRI supports a small number of scope-defined collaborations spanning validation, reproducibility, conceptual integration, applied R&D, and institutional or enterprise pilot evaluation.
Relevant work may include system requirements and risk taxonomy, model or service evaluation, human-impact validation, evaluation criteria and thresholds, governance and audit protocols, pilot design, and PI-level evidence review. RRI’s role is research design, measurement, validation, and evidence quality rather than general software implementation.
These are not training programs, open-ended mentorships, or general supervision arrangements. Collaborations are document-driven, limited in scope, and based on clear contribution tracking, data and evidence boundaries, and research governance.
RRI is not currently accepting general student supervision requests or unfocused collaboration proposals.
For research or institutional inquiries: