Bangzhao Shu

(he/him)

PhD Student

  • Artificial intelligence  
  • Natural language processing and information retrieval   
  • Master of Science in Information, University of Michigan  
  • Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan  
  • Bachelor of Engineering in Geomatics, Nanjing Normal University — China 

Bangzhao Shu is a PhD student in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, based in Boston. He is advised by Mai ElSherief. 

Shu is passionate about building AI systems that can safely interact with humans, and that do so with emotional and social intelligence. In particular, he studies how language models process emotions, intentions, and social cues in text; how these internal representations influence model behavior; and how models interact with people in socially sensitive settings. His goal is to develop methods that make AI systems more interpretable, reliable, and aligned with human needs.

Shu joined Khoury College in 2024 to pursue a PhD focused on LLM emotional and social intelligence, safety and alignment, and mechanistic interpretability. Previously, he completed dual master’s degrees at the University of Michigan. His work has been published at NAACL and ICWSM.

Shu enjoys spending his free time with his very introverted Shiba and the only other dogs she seems to like: Alaskan Huskies.