
Kun Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Emerging Media - Department of Media Production, Management, and Technology
Bio
Kun Xu’s research area focuses on the intersection of human-computer interaction, computer-mediated communication, and media psychology. His work investigates how people perceive and process information from technologies such as social robots, computer agents and virtual assistants. He also examines how people use virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies to make sense of spaces and maintain social relationships. His research on smartphones focuses on mobile interface design and users’ geo-location sharing behavior.
His works have been accepted in journals such as Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, New Media & Society, Computers in Human Behavior, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, Convergence, and International Communication Gazette.
Kun also was a journalist and a news editor at Thomson Reuters and Shanghai Media Group. He received his Ph.D. from the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University.
Education
B.A., Journalism, Shanghai International Studies University
M.A., Kent State University School of Communication Studies
Ph.D., Temple University Klein College of Media and Communication
News
- Man vs. Machine: Human Responses to AI (February 10, 2022)
- How Human-Like Should Social Robots Be? (February 7, 2022)
- Kun Xu Co-Authors Article on Human Responses to an Artificial Intelligence Newscaster (February 4, 2022)
- Smart Speakers Require Smart Management (January 13, 2022)
- Kun Xu, Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Doctoral Student Fanju Liu Author Article on Smart Speaker Management Options (January 6, 2022)
- All News About Kun Xu
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Kim , J., Merrill , K., Xu, K., & Sellnow , D. (2022). Embracing AI-based machine teacher in higher-education: Examining social presence in online education. Human-Machine Communication.
Kim , J., Xu, K., & Merrill , K. (2022). Man vs machine: Human responses to an AI newscaster and the role of social presence. The Social Science Journal. DOI: 10.1080/03623319.2022.2027163
Xu, K., Chan-Olmsted, S., & Liu, F. (2022). Smart speakers require smart management: Two routes from user gratifications to privacy settings. International Journal of Communication, 16. Retrieved from https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/17823
Kim, J., Kelly , M., Xu, K., & Sellnow , D. (2021). I like my relational machine teacher: An AI instructor’s communication styles and social presence in online education. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2021.1908671
Lombard, M., & Xu, K. (2021). Social responses to media technologies in the 21st century: The Media are Social Actors paradigm. Human-Machine Communication, 2, 29-55. Retrieved from https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=hmc
Xu, K. (2020). Language, modality, and mobile media use experiences: Social responses to smartphones in a task-oriented context. Telematics & Informatics, 48. DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2020.101344
Kim, J., Merrill, K., Xu, K., & Sellnow, D. (2020). My teacher is a machine: Understanding students’ perception of AI teaching assistants in online education. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 36, 1902-1911. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2020.1801227
Xu, K., Liu , F., Mou, Y., Wu, Y., Zeng, J., & Schafer , M. (2020). Using machine learning to learn machines: A cross-cultural study of users’ responses to machine-generated art works. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2020.1835136
Xu, K., & Liu, F. (2020). Using machine learning to learn machines: A cross-cultural study of users’ responses to machine-generated art works. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 64(4), 566. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2020.1835136
Liao, T., & Xu, K. (2020). A process approach to understanding multiple open source innovation contests: Assessing the contest structures, execution, and participant responses in the Android Developer Challenges. Information and Organization, 30(2). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1471772720300245
Wu, Y., Mou, Y., Li, Z., & Xu, K. (2020). Investigating American and Chinese Subjects’ explicit and implicit perceptions of AI-Generated artistic work. Computers in Human Behavior, 104. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074756321930398X
Liao, T., Yang, H., Lee, S., Xu, K., & Bennett , S. (2020). Augmented criminality: How people process in-situ augmented reality crime information in relation to space/place. Mobile Media and Communication. DOI: 10.1177/2050157919899696
Steiner, E., & Xu, K. (2020). Binge-watching motivates change: Uses and gratifications of streaming video viewers challenge traditional TV research. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26(1), 82-101. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1354856517750365
Xu, K., & Liao, T. (2020). Explicating cues: A typology for understanding emerging media technologies. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 25(1), 32-43. DOI: 10.1093/jcmc/zmz023
Xu, K. (2019). First encounter with robot Alpha: How individual differences interact with vocal and kinetic cues in users’ social responses. New Media & Society, 21(11-12), 2522-2547. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444819851479
Mou, Y., Shi, C., Shen, T., & Xu, K. (2019). A Systematic Review of the Personality of Robot: Mapping Its Conceptualization, Operationalization, Contextualization and Effects. International Journal of Human--Computer Interaction, 36, 591-605. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10447318.2019.1663008
Xu, K. (2018). Location Speaks: Using GIS Approach to Understand an Anti-pornography Campaign in Mainland China. China Media Research, 14(2), 29-44.
Mou, Y., Xu, K., & Xia, K. (2018). Unpacking the black box: Examining the (de) Gender categorization effect in human-machine communication. Computers in Human Behavior, 90, 380-387. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563218304242
Xu, K. (2018). Painting Chinese mythology: Varying touches on the magazine covers of Time, The Economist, Der Spiegel, and China Today. International Communication Gazette, 80(2), 135-157. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1748048517707386
Xu, K., & Lombard, M. (2017). Persuasive computing: Feeling peer pressure from multiple computer agents. Computers in Human Behavior, 74, 152-162. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217302856
Mou, Y., & Xu, K. (2017). The media inequality: Comparing the initial human-human and human-AI social interactions. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 432-440. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217301486
Xu, K., Lin, M., & Haridakis, P. (2015). Being Addicted to Chinese Twitter: Exploring the Roles of Users' Expected Outcomes and Deficient Self-regulation in Social Network Service Addiction. China Media Research, 11(2).
Courses
Syllabi from the current and three previous semesters:
- MMC 6936 - Computer-Mediated Communication - section 6802 - Spring 2022 (PDF)
- RTV 3405 - Television and American Society - section 029H - Spring 2022 (PDF)
- MMC 6936 - Human-Machine Communication - Fall 2021 (PDF)
- RTV 3405 - Television and American Society - section 4492 - Fall 2021 (PDF)
- RTV 3405 - Television and American Society - Spring 2021 (PDF)