Zihan Zhang
PhD student
Profile
Biography
I completed my MSci Psychology at the University of York in June 2025 and starting my PhD at York
in September 2025.
Career
- PhD in Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of York (2025- Present)
- MSci Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of York (2021-2025)
Research
Overview
AI risks arising from cognitive offloading.
Projects
Humans always have to make cognitive effort, whether they are working, studying or relaxing.
However, previous research has shown that humans prefer to solve problems by using the simplest
way of thinking and the least effort. Modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers new ways to reduce
cognitive effort. We are interested in conditions under which humans delegate tasks to AI systems to
reduce cognitive effort. We are especially interested in cognitive offloading as a source of latent
errors in complex systems. Latent errors may not be immediately apparent but can potentially lead
to catastrophic risks in the future. By connecting cognitive offloading to latent errors, this project
will explore how human decision making contributes to anthropogenic risks.
Research group(s)
- Cognitive Hazards
Collaborators
- Professor Rob Jenkins
- Professor Alex Wade