Hello!
I’m Dongdong Zhu, a PhD student in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Davis, supervised by Dr. Soojong Kim. My research examines bias, stereotypes, morality of AI, and their impact on human’s behavior, primarily through computational methods.
Before UC Davis, I completed my research master’s in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam, a master’s at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and my bachelor’s at Renmin University of China.
Research Interests
- Bias and stereotypes in generative AI and large language models
- Morality and value alignment in AI systems
- AI persuasion and its effects on human attitudes and behavior
Selected Publications
- Kim, S., Kim, H., Kim, K., & Zhu, D. (2026). Algorithmic Portrayals of Mental Health Stigma: Quantifying the Gap Between AI Estimations and Human Perceptions Across Gender Groups. Social Science & Medicine. [Under Revision]
Honors & Awards
- Top Research Paper Award, 109th Annual AEJMC Conference (2026)
- Small Grant, Department of Communication, UC Davis ($1,000, 2026)
- Thesis Grant, Digital Communication Methods Lab, University of Amsterdam (€500, 2025)
News
Recent
- 2026.06 Presented A Mirror of Reality? Visual Representations of Female Politicians in the EU Across Search Engines and Generative AI at the 76th ICA Annual Conference, Cape Town, South Africa.
- 2026.06 Presented Bias in Multimodal Generative AI Evaluations of Vaping Risk Perceptions and Willingness (with Kim, Kim, Niederdeppe, Byrne) at ICA 2026, Cape Town, South Africa.
- 2026.06 Received the Top Research Paper Award at the 109th AEJMC Annual Conference, New Orleans, for Algorithmic Portrayals of Mental Health Stigma (with Kim, Kim, Kim).
- 2026.05 Served as Panel Chair, “Governance, Extremism, and Regulatory Questions,” Comm Horizons 2026, Davis, CA.
- 2026.05 Presented A Mirror of Reality? Visual Representations of Female Politicians in the EU Across Search Engines and Generative AI at Comm Horizons 2026, Davis, CA.
- 2026.05 Presented Bias in Multimodal Generative AI Evaluations of Vaping Risk Perceptions and Willingness (with Kim, Kim, Niederdeppe, Byrne) at Comm Horizons 2026, Davis, CA.
Past
- 2026.02 Presented A Mirror of Reality? Visual Representations of Female Politicians in the EU Across Search Engines and Generative AI at CSS Escape 2026, Davis, CA.
- 2026.02 Presented Whose Morality? Uncovering Ideological Asymmetries in How Large Language Models Judge Political Arguments at CSS Escape 2026, Davis, CA.
- 2026.02 Presented Banned from Detecting Shadowbans (with Khanna, Ausloos, Leerssen) at Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap, Arnhem, Netherlands.
- 2025.11 Serving as Reviewer, 76th ICA Annual Conference.
- 2025.06 Presented TikTok News and (the Illusion of) Knowledge at the 75th ICA Annual Conference, Denver, USA.
- 2024.06 Presented Are Housewives Getting Depressed? A Machine Learning Study Based on YouTube at the 74th ICA Regional Hub, Beijing, China.