Yichen Hao
Job Title
PhD Student
Research interests
Research interests
Algorithmic Accountability, AI Governance, AI-Mediated Policy Interpretation, EU AI Policy, Generative AI in Policymaking, Human-AI Relations, Politics of AI, Robot Ethics and Governance
Background
Yichen Hao is a PhD researcher in Science and Technology Studies at the University of Edinburgh. His research examines how generative AI mediates the interpretation and communication of public policy, with a particular focus on EU AI governance.
His doctoral project investigates how large language models summarise, explain and reinterpret EU AI policy, including the EU AI Act and related policy frameworks. It explores how concepts such as risk, trustworthiness, accountability and compliance may be reframed as regulatory texts are translated into accessible explanations and practical guidance. Combining controlled prompting with qualitative coding and close textual comparison, the project examines changes in meaning, emphasis and underlying assumptions across policy texts and AI-generated interpretations. It considers what these changes may imply for authority, expertise and responsibility in AI governance, particularly when AI systems interpret policies that seek to govern them.
Before joining Edinburgh, Yichen completed a Joint Honours undergraduate degree in Economic and Social History & Central and Eastern European Studies at the University of Glasgow, an MSc in Theory and History of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MPhil in Digital Humanities at the University of Cambridge. His interdisciplinary background informs his interest in the relationships between technology, political institutions and knowledge production. His previous work has explored European integration, international institutions, digital infrastructures and the political economy of AI, including digital labour and platform capitalism.