Affiliate Faculty
Professor of Digital Media

Additional Campus Affiliations

Professor, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
Director, Institute of Communications Research
Professor, Institute of Communications Research
Professor, Journalism
Professor, Business Administration
Professor, Communication
Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences
Affiliate, Siebel Center for Design

Recent Publications

Liu, W., & Yao, M. (Accepted/In press). The Minds Behind the Prompts: How Mental Representations Shape User Interaction with Generative AI. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2026.2629531

Yao, M., & Chang, J. (2026). Artificial Intelligence as a Printing Press Moment: Ontological Parallelism and the Future of Communication Theory. Global Media and China, 11(1), 127-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/20594364261423864

Hamilton, K. A., Ward, A. F., & Yao, M. Z. (2025). Mind or Machine? Conversational Internet Search Moderates Search-Induced Cognitive Overconfidence. Journal of Media Psychology, 37(3), 129-143. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000419

Jahadakbar, M., & Yao, M. Z. (2025). The Routine: Enhancing Special Needs Education Through AI-Personalized Embodied Learning in Virtual Environments. In Proceedings - 2025 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and eXtended and Virtual Reality, AIxVR 2025 (pp. 176-182). (Proceedings - 2025 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and eXtended and Virtual Reality, AIxVR 2025). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/AIxVR63409.2025.00034

Wang, Y. M., & Yao, M. Z. (2025). Using augmented reality (AR) to increase risk perception of E-cigarettes among young adults: From the perspective of construal level theory. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 20, Article 100802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100802

View all publications on Illinois Experts