Zhilin Zhang
About Me
Human-Computer Interaction; Artificial Intelligence; Social Computing
I am a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of Oxford, working on the Ethical Web and Data Architecture project led by Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
​​
My research explores how AI systems influence governance, trust, and collective decision-making in online communities. I investigate how intelligent systems can be designed to align with community values and support effective governance at scale, drawing on perspectives from human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, and social computing.
​​​
Through a combination of empirical research and system design, I study how AI can support governance in decentralised social systems and other community-driven environments. My work has been published at leading venues including CHI and CSCW.
​​​
Prior to Oxford, I completed both my B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where I worked with Lawrence Angrave, Karrie Karahalios, and ChengXiang Zhai.
​
Email: zhilin.zhang@cs.ox.ac.uk
​
Latest Updates
[02/2026]: New paper published at CHI 2026
[11/2025]: Served as lead TA for IDE: Interaction Design
Featured Work
Ethical Web and Data Infrastructure in the Age of AI (EWADA) is an ambitious programme funded by the Oxford Martin School (OMS). Its mission is to reform the concentration of power on the World Wide Web by developing and deploying new forms of technical and legal infrastructure.
ClassTranscribe is a Microsoft sponsored online learning platform. I analyzed behavioral data of 1,894 users totaling more than 5 million interactions with the system to study students’ attitudes and behaviors towards caption-based video search. The results have been published at SIGCSE and ASEE.
I used a grounded-theory approach to code the qualitative data from a 22-participant interview study. The results provided insights into students’ folk theories, interaction strategies, perceived accuracy, satisfaction and fairness towards the NLP-based grading system. The paper was published at CHI 2021.
Being motivated to promote equity for students with disabilities and accessible learning opportunities for all students, we conducted surveys and interviews across several large courses in engineering and computing at UIUC to identify course components that engage students with and without disabilities. The paper was published at ASEE 2021.
I led the design and implementation of a 20-participant user study on an integrated friend-sourcing tool that helps visually impaired people with inaccessible web tasks to investigate users’ attitudes towards the tool, regarding friend-sourcing vs. crowd-sourcing, paid vs unpaid, privacy concerns, and impacts on their relationship. (SOUPS 2021)
I designed and developed an Android app using the Android Accessibility Service to automatically record users’ interactions with other apps on the phone. The logged data include gestures, screenshots, and view hierarchies. The data was used to mine user habits and generate task shortcuts.
Publications
(* = Equal Contribution)
Attitudes, Imagined Roles, and Governance Boundaries for AI in Decentralized Social Media
CHI 2026 - Full Paper [pdf]
Zhilin Zhang, Jun Zhao, Ge Wang, Sruthi Viswanathan, Tala Jo Ross, Samantha-Kaye Johnston, Diyi Liu, Hayoun Noh, Max Van Kleek, and Nigel Shadbolt
​
Trouble in Paradise? Understanding Mastodon Admin’s Motivations, Experiences, and Challenges Running Decentralised Social Media
CSCW 2024 - Full Paper [pdf]
Zhilin Zhang, Jun Zhao, Ge Wang, Samantha-Kaye Johnston, George Chalhoub, Tala Ross, Diyi Liu, Claudine Tinsman, Rui Zhao, Max Van Kleek, Nigel Shadbolt
​
CHAITok: A Proof-of-Concept System Supporting Children's Sense of Data Autonomy on Social Media
CHI 2024 - Full Paper [pdf]​
Ge Wang, Jun Zhao, Samantha-Kaye Johnston, Zhilin Zhang, Max Van Kleek, Nigel Shadbolt​
* Best Paper Honorable Mention
​​
KOALA Hero Toolkit: A New Approach to Inform Families of Mobile Datafication Risks
CHI 2024 - Full Paper [pdf]​
Ge Wang, Jun Zhao, Konrad Kollnig, Adrien Zier, Blanche Duron, Zhilin Zhang, Max Van Kleek, Nigel Shadbolt​
​
Am I wrong, or is the autograder wrong? Effects of AI grading mistakes on learning
ICER 2023 - Full Paper [pdf]​
Tiffany Wenting Li, Silas Hsu, Max Fowler, Zhilin Zhang, Craig Zilles, Karrie Karahalios
​​
Exploring collaborative caption editing to augment video-based learning
Educational Technology Research and Development Journal - Full Paper [pdf]​
Bhavya*, Si Chen*, Zhilin Zhang*, Tiffany Wenting Li, Yun Huang, Lawrence Angrave, ChengXiang Zhai
How Students Search Video Captions to Learn: An Analysis of Search Terms and Behavioral Timing Data
ASEE 2021 - Full Paper [pdf]
Zhilin Zhang*, Bhavya*, Lawrence Angrave, Ruihua Sui, Rob Kooper, Chirantan Mahipal, Yun Huang
A UDL-Based Large-Scale Study on the Needs of Students with Disabilities in Engineering Courses
ASEE 2021 - Full Paper [pdf]
Jenny Amos*, Zhilin Zhang*, Lawrence Angrave*, Hongye Liu*, Yiyin Shen
* 3rd Best Paper Award & 2nd Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Paper Award
WebAlly: Making Visual Task-based CAPTCHAs Transferable for People with Visual Impairments
SOUPS 2021 - Full Paper [pdf]
Zhuohao Zhang, Zhilin Zhang, Haolin Yuan, Natã Barbosa, Sauvik Das, Yang Wang
Attitudes Surrounding an Imperfect AI Autograder
CHI 2021 - Full Paper [pdf]
Silas Hsu*, Tiffany Wenting Li*, Zhilin Zhang, Max Fowler, Craig Zilles, Karrie Karahalios
Improving Student Accessibility, Equity, Course Performance, and Lab Skills: How Introduction of ClassTranscribe is Changing Engineering Education
ASEE 2020 - Full Paper [pdf]
Lawrence Angrave, Karin Jensen, Zhilin Zhang, Chirantan Mahipal, David Mussulman, Christopher Schmitz, Robert Baird, Hongye Liu, Ruihua Sui, Maryalice Wu, and Rob Kooper​
* Best Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Paper Honorable Mention
​
Who Benefits? Positive Learner Outcomes from Behavioral Analytics of Online Lecture Video Viewing using ClassTranscribe
SIGCSE 2020 - Full Paper [pdf]
Lawrence Angrave, Zhilin Zhang, Genevieve Henricks-Lepp, Chirantan Mahipal​
​
Attitudes, Behaviors, and Learning Outcomes from Using ClassTranscribe, a UDL-Featured Video-Based Online Learning Platform with Learnersourced Text-Searchable Captions
UIUC - Master's Thesis (2021) [pdf]
Zhilin Zhang​​
Contact Me
Please feel free to contact me at zhilin.zhang@cs.ox.ac.uk