I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Technology and Society, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences, at Stony Brook University. I am an interdisciplinary researcher studying the human and social dimensions of artificial intelligence (AI) and how people can thrive in an AI-integrated future (link to department profile). I combine computational methods with qualitative insights to trace technology trends and understand their broader societal impact. At Stony Brook University, I affiliated with AI Innovation Institute (AI3), and the Center for Changing Systems of Power.

I earned my Ph.D. in Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology from Arizona State University, after earlier degrees in Civil Engineering (Beijing Jiaotong University), Economics (Peking University), and Communication, Culture and Technology (Georgetown University). Before joining Stony Brook University, I was a postdoctoral research scholar at ASU’s Decision Theater. I have also worked as a patent examiner, an editor at a popular science magazine, and co-founded Synced (机器之心), an AI-focused media company in China.

My research looks both backward and forward. Backward-looking, I examine how AI and other emerging technologies are created, who creates them, and who is missing from the process. Forward-looking, I study how AI is transforming the way we live, connect, invent, work, and adapt, as well as how AI might help address challenges such as climate change and workforce transitions. I also explore how AI shapes and is shaped by our collective imaginaries of the future, including in science fiction movies.

Selected publications:

Wang, J., & Solís, P. (2025). Identifying latent workforce capacities for extreme heat resilience: An artificial intelligence assisted approach. Energy and AI, 21, 100580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyai.2025.100580

[Accepted] Wang, J., & Maynard, A. (2025). Gender Disparity in U.S. Patenting. Humanities and Social Science Communications

[Accepted] Wang, J., Gundogdu, T. B., Ivic, R. K., Butler, B. S., & Lee, M. (2025). News Deserts as Information Problems: A Case Study of Local News Coverage in Alabama. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology.

Wang, J., Kiran, E., Aurora, S. R., Simeone, M., & Lobo, J. (2025). ChatGPT on ChatGPT: An Exploratory Analysis of its Performance in the Public Sector Workplace. Digit. Gov.: Res. Pract., 6(2), 29:1-29:28. https://doi.org/10.1145/3676281

Wang, J., & Lobo, J. (2024). Extensive growth of inventions: Evidence from U.S. patenting. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 207, 123586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123586

Wang, J., Lobo, J., Shutters, S. T., & Strumsky, D. (2024). Fueling a net-zero future: The influence of government-funded research on climate change mitigation inventions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 51, 100836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100836

Wang, J., Maynard, A., Lobo, J., Michael, K., Motsch, S., & Strumsky, D. (2024). Knowledge Combination Analysis Reveals That Artificial Intelligence Research Is More Like “Normal Science” Than “Revolutionary Science.” Proceedings of the 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 5598--5607. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/107058