Associate Professor Yun Huang has been named a 2025–2026 Linowes Fellow by the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Illinois. She is also the recipient of a 2024–2025 fellowship, which "provides exceptionally promising tenure-stream faculty with opportunities for innovation and discovery using the Cline Center's data holdings and/or analytic tools."
Huang will be using the Cline Center's SPOTLITE (Systematic Policing Oversight Through Lethal-force Incident Tracking Environment) dataset, a tool that allows researchers to search for and visualize patterns in incidents in which police use firearms or other forms of force that result in death. Her new project aims to advance public understanding and critical analysis of SPOTLITE through AI-supported, persona-driven interactions. These AI personas, acting as simulated academics, policymakers, and community advocates, will allow users to engage more deeply with the complex data and reduce the risk of misinterpretation and bias.
"This fellowship empowers us to design AI systems that help both public and government professionals make informed, responsible decisions—especially in high-stakes contexts," said Huang. "I'm also launching a new course, Introduction to Generative AI, where I plan to integrate this research into the classroom to train the next generation to think critically about technology's role in public decision-making."
Huang specializes in human-AI interaction and social computing. She is passionate about developing systems that foster collaborative innovation between humans and AI, whether it is to conceive new services or enhance existing ones. Her work is sponsored by government agencies such as the National Science Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Administration for Community Living, as well as companies such as OpenAI, Google, and IBM. Huang received her PhD from the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.