Meryl Ye

she/her

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I am a PhD student in the Software and Societal Systems Department at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science. I am fortunate to be advised by Steve Rathje and Bob Kraut.

I am broadly interested in how sociotechnical systems shape human behavior. My recent work has focused on how sycophantic AI affects people’s beliefs, decisions, and wellbeing.

I am also a research assistant with Data & Society’s AI on the Ground team, where I study how people use general-purpose AI systems for emotional and mental health support, seeking to understand both the benefits these systems provide and the risks that emerge when they become embedded in care practices.

All of my endeavors are in pursuit of understanding:

  • how to build and regulate AI systems so they serve people better and more safely
  • how to equip people (with information, tools, and agency) to responsibly and safely adopt and use AI, if they choose to do so

My work spans research and public engagement.

See what this includes
  • I run RCTs to test how model behaviors affect people, so we know how models should be built (trained, tuned, and instructed).
  • I develop valid measures of AI behaviors, their effects on people, and the dynamics between them.
  • I run field studies and analyze chatlogs to understand what actually happens in the wild.
  • I conduct qualitative and ethnographic studies to understand how people adopt AI in context.
  • I study how people perceive AI, how company marketing and broader culture shape those perceptions, and which lessons from prior media and technology studies transfer to AI.
  • I build tools that give users more transparency and agency over their AI use.
  • I work on AI literacy so people understand the benefits, risks, and tradeoffs of the systems they choose to use.
  • I engage with companies, developers, and policymakers to put research into practice.
  • I engage with clinicians, therapists, and teachers whose roles are being changed by the socioemotional effects of AI.
  • I talk with users “on the ground” to understand how AI is affecting them.
  • I mentor researchers and work with other researchers on the complex dimensions of evaluating and building safe AI.
  • I try to build bridges between disciplines and stakeholder groups.


My work has been supported by a Sansom Graduate Fellowship, the Cosmos Institute, and the National Science Foundation.

I graduated from Cornell University in 2023 with a B.S. in Computer Science. I am grateful to have worked with Malte Jung and Jon Kleinberg in my undergraduate research.

View my CV here.


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merylye [at] cmu [dot] edu