Computational Social Science · Human–AI Interaction · Innovation

Understanding how big data and AI reshape exploration, creativity, and innovation.

Yulin Yu is an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, College of Information Science, where she is the Principal Investigator and Director of the AHA Lab (Analytics of Human & Artificial Intelligence). She is a computational social scientist studying human–AI interaction and innovation, with a focus on how disruptive technologies impact people and society. Her current research examines how big data and AI transform the ways people explore, think, and innovate across science, art, and the technology workplace (PNAS 2024, CHI 2026). As a human-centered data scientist, she analyzes large-scale digital trace data by developing and applying computational and statistical frameworks.

Her research has been published in top-tier general science venues (e.g., PNAS) and leading computational social science/HCI venues (e.g., The Web Conference, ICWSM, CSCW, and CHI). She was recognized as an EECS Rising Star by MIT and has received a Special Recognition Award from IC2S2. Beyond academia, her research has attracted attention from prominent science communication outlets, including Science, ScienceDaily, and Inside Higher Ed. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Information and has been affiliated with Microsoft Research, the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, and the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO).