Politics & public opinion
How information spreads, gains visibility, and shapes public opinion across political contexts.
Communication · Technology · Society
Yanheng Li李彦恒
Understanding information.
Understanding belief.
I’m a first-year Ph.D. student in Media, Technology, and Society at Northwestern University. I’m advised by Prof. Erik Nisbet and affiliated with Northwestern’s Center for Communication & Public Policy (CCPP). My research connects political communication, human–computer interaction, and computational social science, with a focus on misinformation and AI-mediated communication.
01 / Research
Information, people,
and the systems between.
I combine computational methods, multimodal analysis, and human-centered inquiry to study information and public opinion.
Multimodal misinformation
How images and videos—including AI-generated media—affect credibility and political beliefs.
AI-mediated communication
How the social orientations and limitations of AI shape the ways people communicate and evaluate information.
02 / Selected work
Publications & preprints.
Where Do LLMs Go Wrong? Diagnosing Automated Peer Review via Aspect-Guided Multi-Level Perturbation
Diagnosing the robustness and biases of LLM reviewers through controlled changes to papers, reviews, and rebuttals.
Analyzing Cognitive Differences Among Large Language Models through the Lens of Social Worldview
Examining models’ orientations toward hierarchy, equality, individuality, and fate—and their responses to social cues.
In progress
A Human-LLM Framework for Analyzing Amplified Crisis Comments on YouTube
Combining human interpretation, language models, and network analysis to understand how crisis conversations are amplified on video platforms.
03 / Along the way
Recent news.
Joined Northwestern University as a Ph.D. student in Media, Technology, and Society.
Completed my undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Renmin University of China.
04 / Background
A few coordinates.
Northwestern University
Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society
2026–presentEvanston, Illinois
Renmin University of China
LL.B. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics
2022–2026Beijing, China
Luiss Guido Carli
Erasmus exchange in Data Science
2024–2025Rome, Italy
Away from research: basketball, musicals, and the flute.
Let’s connect
Good research starts
with a conversation.
I’m always glad to connect with people thinking about communication, politics, and AI.