I'm applying for doctoral (and pre-doctoral) positions for a Fall 2023 start! For my future research, I seek to investigate the new logic of agency and intelligence when generative artificial intelligence (AI) stand in for human producers to make value judgment in cultural production. I situate this inquiry within the broader conversations on the role of technologies in design and media production.

From writing assistants (e.g., Grammarly), text-to-image generators (e.g., OpenAI’s DALL-E), to “smart” design templates (e.g., Microsoft Designer), how do media producers – from journalists to social media creators – craft their authentic voice when adopting these tools?

Most recently, I was a research intern at the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England, where I studied the social, economic, and organizational logic of content creation with Nancy Baym. You can read about our research here.

In May 2022, I graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University, with a B.S. in Communication and Information Science. 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.

I'm a queer person of color growing up in a non-English-speaking household. 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 scholar contemplating a research career? Send me an email with any questions you may have at stepeche.yang [at] gmail [dot] com.