Hi,

My name is Yedong Sh-Chen.

I study games, digital media, AI, and modern China.

I'm completing a Ph.D. at Harvard, and am getting a Professional Certificate in Game Design from MIT.

My dissertation, "Chinese Video Games: World, Object, and Artificial Intelligence," provides the first empirical history of both digital gaming in China and the global circulation of Chinese games, from the pixel era to the age of generative AI. It addresses key theoretical issues including world-building, artificial affect, AI ethics, and the politics of play, gender, and pleasure.

I'm also working on a side project to excavate the overlooked contributions of East Asian countries to the invention of computer graphics.

In my spare time, I help the Harvard-Yenching Library collect games.

I used to be a stage actor in China and off-Broadway.

Now I'm concerned about play and role-play in the age of generative AI.