Project Team

An Interdisciplinary Team

The GES Generative AI Literacy Project brings together researchers in communication, artificial intelligence, Earth science, molecular biomedical sciences, and bioinformatics. This interdisciplinary expertise allows the project to address both the technical possibilities of generative AI and its implications for research, communication, and society.

Yang Alice Cheng, Ph.D., MBA

Principal Investigator · GES Affiliate

Professor, Department of Communication
Director, AI for Communication Hub
Co-Director, Embedding AI in Society Ethically (EASE) Center

Dr. Cheng leads the project’s overall direction, curriculum oversight, workshops, evaluation, and dissemination. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence and public relations, AI chatbots, misinformation, media literacy, ethics, risk communication, social media, and strategic communication.

Project role: Project leadership, curriculum development, workshop coordination, evaluation, and dissemination.

J. Paul Liu, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator

Professor, Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences
Director, AI Hub for Science

Dr. Liu specializes in AI and machine learning for science, including large language models, AI agents, retrieval-augmented generation, and generative AI applications for scientific research. He developed the project’s five-stage AI Literacy Continuum and teaches Generative AI for Science at NC State.

Project role: AI literacy framework, training modules, coding exercises, and domain-specific AI examples.

Xin-Xia Peng, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator

Professor, Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences
Member, NC State Bioinformatics Research Center
Founder & CEO, Depict Bio, LLC

Dr. Peng brings expertise in computational biology, genomics, genetics, bioinformatics, and large language models for genomics. Her research connects computational methods with biomedical and biological research, providing important scientific and technical expertise for the project.

Project role: Curriculum development, workshop design, participant engagement, assessment, and scientific/domain expertise.

Research Assistant

Project role: Supports project research, resource development, survey work, workshops, and evaluation.

Graduate Research Support

Graduate student researchers will support the development and testing of Google Colab tutorials, AI-literacy diagnostics, workshops, participant support, data collection, and evaluation.

Project role: Resource development, testing, workshop support, data collection, and evaluation.