I'm Stephen Yang, researching
futures of media and technologies
PhD Researcher @ USC Annenberg。NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Responsible AI。Science and Technology Studies。Critical Innovation Studies。Futures Studies。Time and Temporality
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Who's Stephen?
I'm Stephen Yang, a writer, researcher, and futurist. I study the politics of future-making in and around new media, computing technologies, and artificial intelligence.
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Presently, I'm pursuing my PhD at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, where I'm supported by the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP).

My research offers critically oriented design and policy principles for new media and computing technologies. I have held research appointments at Microsoft Research (Social Media Collective), Center for Democracy & Technology (AI Governance Lab), and Partnership on AI.

I'm always open to new connections and opportunities. You can find me on X (formerly Twitter) or reach out to me at stepheny [at] usc [dot] edu.
Research Agenda
Broadly, my research investigates the politics of future-making in and around new media, computing technologies, and artificial intelligence. I zoom in on the discursive devices through which futures are made palpable — from scenarios, trends, prototypes, to predictions. I scrutinize the political and affective roles of these future-making devices in configuring the horizons of the possible across timescales — from historical time, clock time, to real time.

I trace the sociotechnical (re)configurations of future-making devices, as well as how particular technological futures are claimed into being through these devices. In doing so, I foreground the ethico-political tensions between speculation and anticipation, between possibility and inevitability, and between rupture and continuity.
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In the past...
I hold a B.S. in Communication and Information Science from Cornell University, where I graduated as the Degree Marshal of the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, a Merrill Presidential Scholar, and a Rawlings Presidential Research Scholar.

Outside of academia, I have worked in journalism and advertising at organizations such as the Taipei Times and Wunderman Thompson.  

Growing up in Taiwan, I witnessed firsthand the rapid changes that accompanied the rise of networked media and the computing industries, through which I became intrigued by the ambivalence of innovation.
Recent Updates
    2024
    • June 2024 — I presented a paper at the annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA)! As part of a panel on genAI and cultural production, I discussed news media's projected futures of generative AI amidst the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
    • April 2024 — I received funding from the Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life at USC to study the future imaginaries of Hollywood with the advent of AI.
    • Jan 2024 — I just presented our EAAMO'23 paper on participatory approaches to AI design (co-authored with Fernando Delgado, Michael Madaio, and Qian Yang) for Data & Society's series on participatory methods series on AI design and accountability!
    Diversity and Inclusion
    I'm a queer person of color who was born and raised outside of the United States. As someone who have affiliations with elite institutions, I often sit in between marginality and privilege. To put my commitment to diversity and inclusion in practice, I actively seek ways to reduce barriers to success for those coming from marginalized backgrounds. This often translates to sharing tacit knowledge I acquired from prior experience and from my position of privilege.

    Are you a marginalized person contemplating a career in research or responsible AI? Send me an email with any questions you may have at stepheny[at] usc [dot] edu.
    Contact me at stepheny [at] usc [dot] edu
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    @ Copyright 2024 Stephen Yang