Patrick Zhao

I am a MSc thesis student at Simon Fraser University, advised by Dr. Nicholas Vincent.

My research interests are primarily in human-centric AI methods for (social) science, specifically in the LLM social simulation space, and how it can improve the way we understand complex systems in society. I also run Peasant Labs, where our mission is to create open-source infrastructure for people to collectively govern the data that trains AI, and accelerate the precedent of ethical data labour standards.

Recent News

Mechanism Plausibility in Generative Agent-Based Modeling

FAccT 2026

Patrick Zhao, David Huu Pham, Nicholas Vincent

Empowering Users Together: Connecting Algorithmic Collective Action and Explainable AI

Algorithmic Collective Action Workshop @ NeurIPS 2025

Ayana Hussain, Cole Michael Thacker, Patrick Zhao, Aditya Karan, Nicholas Vincent

Let Them Down Easy! Contextual Effects of LLM Guardrails on User Perceptions and Preferences

EMNLP Findings 2025 News Coverage Mentioned in Forbes — Aug 2025

Mingqian Zheng, Wenjia Hu, Patrick Zhao, Motahhare Eslami, Jena D. Hwang, Faeze Brahman, Carolyn Rose, Maarten Sap

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