Research

I study how people select, interpret and respond to mediated information environments — and how artificial intelligence is changing that environment itself. My work sits at the intersection of classic communication theory and the algorithmic, generative systems now mediating attention.

Theme 1 — AI-mediated Communication

Research question: How do artificial intelligence systems transform information production, consumption and human communication?

Keywords: Generative AI · AI literacy · Human–AI interaction · Algorithmic communication

This is my long-term direction. I am developing the concept of generative exposure — exposure that arises not from selecting existing content but from AI generating content in response to the user — and AI literacy as the user-side competence that conditions whether generative exposure widens or narrows one’s information horizon. It connects communication theory, AI development, education practice and content production. → see Selected Publications.

Theme 2 — Media Effects and Selective Exposure

Research question: How do individuals select, interpret and respond to information environments?

Keywords: Selective exposure · Framing · Information behavior · Media psychology

I extend Li Xigen’s three-element model of selective exposure into the algorithmic age, adding generative exposure and AI literacy as contemporary variables. The aim is a framework for understanding choice and attention when the source is no longer only human. This builds directly on my earlier empirical work on news framing and risk perception.

Theme 3 — Health and Risk Communication

Research foundation: media exposure, perceived efficacy, risk perception, and health communication.

Keywords: Risk perception · Media exposure · Perceived efficacy · Cross-cultural communication

My peer-reviewed work here includes studies of vaccine-risk perception in China (Asian Journal of Communication, 2021) and news framing of genetically modified food (International Journal of Communication, 2020). This section demonstrates the empirical foundation beneath the newer AI-focused work. → see Selected Publications.

Current threads

  • Updating the three-element model for algorithmic and generative environments
  • Operationalizing AI literacy as a moderator of generative exposure
  • Translating the international framework to the Chinese context (selective exposure among Chinese audiences and platforms)

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