Dr Xin Zhan

Xin Zhan completed her undergraduate studies at UCL, her master’s at the University of Edinburgh, and her PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.

Her thesis, titled Homo Computator: The Making of Computational Subjectivity through Coding, explores coding and coders ethnographically, investigating how computation both reinforces and destabilizes the boundaries of contemporary capitalism. Conducting fieldwork with charitable coding schools, her research focuses on marginalized communities, offering a grounded understanding of how technological aspirations intersect with structural inequalities. This work contributes to debates around labor, value, and subjectivity in the digital economy. Xin’s current research centers on AI, particularly the social and ethical implications of large language models.