Yumeng Zhang

  • Doctoral Researcher

Yumeng is a doctoral researcher in the Communication and Media department at Loughborough University where she works under the supervision of Dr Kathryn Brown and Professor Craig Richardson. Yumeng holds an MA in Arts Management and an undergraduate degree in Computer Information Systems.

Her interdisciplinary background in art and computing has guided her toward her current PhD research on the use and potential of artificial intelligence in museums. In 2021 Yumeng was awarded a scholarship by the China Scholarship Council for her PhD research.

She is also currently working as a research assistant on a British Academy-funded project led by Dr Kathryn Brown, “Sensing the Surface: A Computer Vision Analysis of Claude Monet’s Water Lily Paintings”. Yumeng has a keen interest in machine learning, natural language processing, museums, and digital art.

Artificial Intelligence and the Museum: Opportunities, Trends, and Tensions

PGR Supervisors: Dr Kathryn Brown and Dr Craig Richardson

Yumeng is currently working on a PhD titled Artificial Intelligence and the Museum: Opportunities, Trends, and Tensions. Her research focuses on the increasing integration of artificial intelligence into museums and the impact of this on art professionals, artists, and audiences. Specifically, Yumeng’s research interests focus on the application and development of AI in curation, collection conservation, and visitor services. She is also contextualizing these recent developments against a longer history of techno-utopianism in the cultural sector.