Yaman Yu

Assistant Professor

yamanyu@uw.edu

Website

Specializations

Human-centered AI safety
Youth online safety and well-being
Usable security and privacy

Research Areas

Courses

INFO 310 - Information Assurance And Cybersecurity

Biography

Yaman Yu is an assistant professor at the University of Washington Information School. Her research bridges human-computer interaction, security and privacy, and artificial intelligence to protect and empower people who face heightened risks online. She studies how AI and other technical systems can help people protect themselves, make informed decisions, and maintain their well-being in increasingly complex digital environments. Yu's recent work focuses on youth AI safety. She examines the developmental risks that arise when children and teens turn to generative AI for support, learning, and connection. She also designs safeguards and family-facing tools that respond to these risks. Her research combines empirical and participatory methods with system building and design research grounded in real-world use. Yu's work has been recognized by a Google Ph.D. Fellowship, an MIT EECS Rising Star selection, a Responsible AI Amazon Research Award, and a CHI Best Paper Honorable Mention. Yu earned her Ph.D. in Information Sciences from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, her M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University, and her B.S. from Tianjin University.

Yu is recruiting Ph.D. students to join her research group at the UW Information School in Fall 2027. She welcomes applicants interested in human-centered AI safety, youth online safety, and usable security and privacy.

Education

Ph D, Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2026
MS, Information Security Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University, 2021
BS, Information Systems and Management, Tianjin University, 2018

Publications and Contributions

Conference Paper

"I Am a Blind Seller!": Picture Taking Assistance for Visually Impaired Individuals for Participation as Sellers in Customer to Customer (C2C) Marketplaces (2025)
CHI EA '25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 10 Authors: A. Tsutsui, K. Tanaka, Yaman Yu, B Ryskeldiev
Conference Paper

Cluttered to Clear: Improving the Web Accessibility Design for Screen Reader Users in E-commerce With Gener- ative AI. (2025)
ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, pp. 19 Authors: Yaman Yu, B Ryskeldiev, A Tsutsui, M Gillingham, Y Wang
Conference Paper

Exploring Parent-Child Perceptions on Safety in Generative AI: Concerns, Mitigation Strategies, and Design Implications (2025)
Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P25) Authors: Yaman Yu, T Sharma, M Hu, J Wang, Y Wang
Conference Paper

Safeguarding Children in Generative AI: Risk Frameworks and Parental Control Tools Yaman Yu. (2025)
GROUP '25: Companion Proceedings of the 2025 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work, pp. 121 - 123 Author: Yaman Yu
Conference Paper

Security Perceptions of Users in Stablecoins: Advantages and Risks within the Cryptocurrency Ecosystem (2025)
Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P25) Authors: M.Y. Guan, Yaman Yu, T. Sharma, M.Z. Huang, K. Qin, Y. Wang, K.Y. Wang
Conference Paper

Understanding Generative AI Risks for Youth: An Empirical Taxonomy for Safer Digital Futures (2025)
Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T25). Authors: Yaman Yu, Y Liu, J. Zhang, Z Qian, H. Yun, W. Yang
Conference Paper

Using Affordance to Understand Usability of Web3 Social Media (2025)
Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 19 Authors: M.Y. Guan, Yaman Yu, K.Y. Wang
Conference Paper

Youth-Centered GAI Risks (YAIR): A Taxonomy of Generative AI Risks from Empirical Data (2025)
Proceedings of the Twenty-First Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security, ISBN/ISSN: 978-1-939133-51-9 Authors: Yaman Yu, Y Liu, Y Huang, Y Wang
Conference Paper

YouthSafe: A Youth-Centric Safety Benchmark and Safeguard Model for Large Language Models (2025)
CCS '25: Proceedings of the 2025 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security, pp. 4349 - 4363 Authors: Yaman Yu, Y Liu, Y Zhang, Y Huang, Y Wang
Conference Extended Abstract

Cross-Country Examination of People’s Experience with Targeted Advertising on Social Media (2024)
CHI EA '24: Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Authors: S Kaushik, T Sharma, Yaman Yu, A.F. Ali, Y. Wang
Conference Paper

“Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket”: How Cryptocurrency Users Choose and Secure Their Wallets (2024)
Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI24) Authors: Yaman Yu, T Sharma, S Das, Y Wang
Conference Paper

Design and evaluation of inclusive email security indicators for people with visual impairments (2023)
2023 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) Authors: Yaman Yu, S Ashok, S Kaushik, Y Wang, G Wang
Conference Paper

GuardLens: Supporting Safer Online Browsing for People with Visual Impairments (2023)
Proceedings of the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS23) Authors: S. Kaushik, N.M. Barbosa, Yaman Yu, T. Sharma, Z. Kilhoffer, S. Das, Y. Wang
Conference Paper

User Perceptions and Experiences of Targeted Ads on Social Media Platforms: Learning from Bangladesh and India (2023)
CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing System, pp. 15 Author: Yaman Yu

Presentations

Developing Inclusive Safeguards for At-Risk Users (2025)
University of Wisconsin–Madison - Madison, WI
Human-Centered AI Safety: Developing Inclusive Safeguards for At-Risk Users Across Emerging Technologies. (2025)
Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, MD
Protecting and Empowering Next Generation in the Age of AI (2025)
Berkeley RDI Agentic AI Summit - Berkeley, CA
Safeguarding Youth in Generative AI (2025)
character.ai - Remote
Tooling and Method to Empower Ethical Youth AI Developers and Designers (2025)
Roblox - San Mateo, CA
Youth-Centric Safeguard Framework for Generative AI (2025)
Google - Remote
GenAI for Accessibility: Website Re-generation for Screen Reader Users (2024)
University of Tokyo - Tokyo, Japan
Inclusive AI: Challenges and Solutions (2024)
Security & Privacy Seminar (SPRI) - Champaign, IL
Inclusive AI: Challenges and Solutions (2024)
Seminar of HCI - Remote
Safeguarding Children in Generative AI: Risk Frameworks and Parental Control Tools (2024)
UIUC School of Information Sciences Research Showcase - Champaign, IL
Safeguarding Youth in Generative AI (2024)
Berkeley Security Seminar - Berkeley, CA
User Risk and Privacy Concerns in Generative AI (2023)
UIUC IS Colloquium - Champaign, IL
Managing Cyber Risks: Express Control Impact and Risk Analysis (ECI&RA) (2022)
FloCon - Remote