About Me

Hi there! 👋 Thank you for visiting my website!

My name is Zhiyuan Lai, and I am a third-year undergraduate student in the Department of Information Management at Peking University. I major in Information Management and Information Systems and pursue a second degree in Sociology.

I am broadly interested in the evolving relationship between technology and society. My research focuses on how digital technologies shape daily life, social relationships, identity formation, and meaning-making, especially how social inequalities are reproduced, challenged, or reinforced through the design and use of technology. Influenced by personal experiences and observations, I pay particular attention to marginalized communities, including women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and rural populations, and I study how they navigate, negotiate, and reimagine technology in their own contexts.

Since 2024, I have been a research assistant in the AI & Society Research Group led by Dr. Pu Yan, where I have received systematic training in empirical research and completed my independent undergraduate research project. Under the mentorship of Dr. Xingkun Liang, I conducted a mixed-methods study on how middle-aged and elderly rural women in China use short-video platforms to construct identity and manage privacy. I have also collaborated with Yunjie Tang on two studies: one examines how generative AI constructs gendered meanings and reinforces social stereotypes, and the other explores how it can support identity formation among LGBTQIA+ communities.

You can find my CV here. Feel free to contact me!