Ben Zefeng Zhang
I am a sociotechnical researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI), working with Dr. Oliver Haimson and Dr. Michaelanne Thomas. I study the sociotechnical impacts of AI-enabled systems in critical areas (e.g., work, migration, and education) to advance theory and inform more equitable and human-centered design and policy interventions.​ ​To achieve these insights, I employ a life-cycle-centered approach, leveraging ethnographic and qualitative research methods to examine the promise, inequality, and invisible labor inherent in AI infrastructures — from development and implementation to governance.
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Drawing on my training in applied data science and sociocultural ethnography, my research focuses on three streams: (1) AI production and data infrastructures; (2) algorithmic mobility and identity transitions across social media; (3) labor, work and social justice in global computing. My empirical research has yielded several key conceptual contributions (e.g., precision labor in AI production, human-centered algorithmic mobility, and infrastructural migration) and design implications around algorithmic resistance and global platform governance.
My work has been published at top computing venues, including ACM CHI, ACM CSCW, ACM GROUP, AAAI ICWSM, and the Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices (JCSCW), as well as interdisciplinary venues such as Social Media & Society, 4S, and AoIR. My work is supported by awards and fellowships, including the International Institute, the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan, and the Weizenbaum Institute in Germany. Additionally, my work and practice have been featured in global news outlets like Der Spiegel, China Daily, and States Newsroom.
Before graduate school, I worked for a few years as a journalist, feature writer, and photographer at an international news outlet. I enjoy cycling, swimming, running, hiking, and yoga. Please feel free to contact me via bzfzhang (at) umich (dot) edu.
Research areas:
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Human-Computer Interaction and Social Computing
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Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
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Information Communication Technologies & Development (ICTD)
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AI for Development (AI4D)
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Human-Centered AI
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Labor, Mobility, and Infrastructure
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AI production and data marketplace
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​Platform and data governance
Recent News:​​​
Attending HCIC 2025
I’ve been selected to attend HCIC 2025 as a representative of the University of Michigan. I’m excited to engage in conversations about The Future of Being Human in a Generative AI World. March 30, 2024
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Paper accepted for CHI 2025
"The Making of Performative Accuracy in AI Training: Precision Labor and Its Consequences," a paper I co-authored with Tianling Yang, Milagros Miceli, Oliver Haimson, and Michaelanne Thomas, has been accepted by ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'25). January 16, 2025
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Paper accepted for CSCW Journal​
"Identity Alignment and the Sociotechnical Reconfigurations of Emotional Labor in Transnational Gig-education Platforms," a paper I co-authored with Dipto Das and Bryan Semaan, has been accepted by the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Journal. January 9, 2025
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Presenting at AoIR2024
I presented our work at AoIR 2024: “Conceptualizing Precision Labor in Artificial Intelligence Training,” a paper co-authored with Tianling Yang, Oliver Haimson, and Michaelanne Thomas, and "The Technopolitics of Waiting: Case Studies of AI Training in China and Homeless Services Systems in the U.S.," a paper I co-first-authored with Pelle Tracey and co-authored with Patricia Garcia, Oliver Haimson, and Michaelanne Thomas. November 1, 2024
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Paper accepted for GROUP2025
"'Dialing it Back:' Shadowbanning, Invisible Digital Labor, and How Marginalized Content Creators Attempt to Mitigate the Impacts of Opaque Platform Governance," a paper I co-authored with Senami Kojah, Carolina Are, Daniel Delmonaco, and Oliver Haimson, was accepted to GROUP 2025. October 4, 2024
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Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship
I am really honored to be selected to receive the prestigious Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan to support my dissertation! The Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship supports "outstanding doctoral candidates working on dissertations that are unusually creative, ambitious and impactful." March 8, 2024​
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View archived news items here.​
Affiliation:​
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Social Computing Research Lab (SCRL)
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The Community Research on Identity and Technology Lab (CRIT)
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Information and Communication Technologies and Development Group
