make better humans

About Yán Fēng 颜丰

Welcome! I appreciate you taking the time to get to know me

I would appreciate you even more if you try to call me by Yan(last name) Feng(first name) as in its original Chinese sequence 🔈

I care about building deeply humanizing products as well as genuine connections that shape us into better humans

Currently, I am studying computer science at Duke University 😈

Previously, I worked as product at rabbit. I also spent a significant amount of time in multi-agent and blockchain research

Ideally, I am one or multiple of the following: enthusiastic mountaineer, avid basketball player, spontaneous painter, adventurous cook, unreasonable dog person, yet-to-be triathlete 🤞

DON'T hesitate if you want to talk about fun things, do sports together, or plan an adventure with me!

Just leave a msg here: yanffyy at gmail dot com or catch me in the wild :D

HiPo

In today's increasingly polarized political landscape, it seems inevitable to fall into echo chambers and information cocoons, fueled by recommendation engines that prioritize engagement over balance. Yet, listening to and understanding opposing perspectives is more critical than ever. Inspired by Dean Sue's class on thinking in a polarized age, I created Hipo, a Chrome plugin that surfaces hidden biases and offers opposing viewpoints to help users navigate the overwhelming sea of information. Riding the wave of AI development and alignment efforts, Hipo strives to leverage technology to provide fair and thoughtful analysis of online content, fostering honest dialogue and civil engagement.

rabbit r1

Leading product development for r1, a first of its kind AI hardware device, reimagining human-machine interaction.

wiser

At 19, I spent two transformative months in Muhuru Bay, Kenya, promoting STEM education at an all-girls high school. These young women, waking at 4 a.m. and studying until 10 p.m., embodied resilience, dreaming of college as their path to a brighter future. Yet, I witnessed a heartbreaking disconnect: a job market misaligned with education, leaving even the brightest jobless and many trapped in cycles of poverty...

account abstraction wallets

I was fortunate enough to travel around the world to hack around blockcahin related ideas and build products for better UX

multi-agent collaboration research

At the intersection of AI alignment and real-world deployment, I found myself grappling with a critical question: how can we design systems that navigate the complexities of human preferences while avoiding unintended harms? Inspired by the rapid advancements in large-scale models and the challenges they pose, I embarked on this research sponsored by Flashbots to explore scalable methods for aligning AI systems with nuanced human values.This paper examines the effectiveness of Commitment Devices in fostering cooperative behavior among LLM agents within game-theoretic contexts. Accepted and Presented at 2024 ICML Agentic Markets workshop.

Big Woman

Growing up in a culture that idealized frailty, I once wished to change my muscular body. Today, I celebrate it. Through sports and strength training, I’ve learned that aesthetics are not innate—they are learned. Here, I share my journey of embracing strength as beauty and inspire others to live strong, capable, and free. Join me in discovering the joy of strength.

because it is there

A personal journey through technology and human experience.

All Projects

Discover the details of all my projects here

View All Projects

ADVENTURES

fortunate enough to have roadtripped to 31/34 provinces in China with my parents
climbed the ABC treks in Nepal with my parents and survived 7 days without showering
solo traveled from Nairobi to Moshi, Tanzania through border points in a van that had no doors like in a movie
crossing the Kenya-Tanzania border with my pika buddy to teach elementary school students
climbed mountain Kilimanjaro
ran a 5k in under 22 minutes
guided my grandma through her first snorkeling experience, where she saw the tropical in her childhood dreams
finished my first UTMB series ultra at the Canyons Endurance Runs in the 2023
fell in a well in Tulum and had army people coming to send me to the hospital
as an Ethereum Scholar, attended Devcon 6 in Bogotá, Colombia and stayed with an amazing hacker house
kayaked in Venice and attended the 2021 La Biennale di Venezia
had Yıldırım usta fish wrap 4 days in a roll in Istanbul
trained muay thai in Phuket and lost a fight, still proud
meditated 7 days in a buddhist temple

HUMANS

I am more than grateful to folks who I felt love from, some I know their names, some I don't 💙

THANK YOU for making me a better human

Those who felt comfortable to be publicly associated with me 😏 are here:

Robin and Shally Yan - well, thanks mum and dad for making me a human to begin with and thank you for making me unapologetically myself

Lin Zhao, Patrick Merrigan, Victoria Zhang, ShaoBo Zhang, Nan Jiang, Qitian Hu, Sandy Wang, Jerry Jiang, Angie Xie, Henri Mattise, Steve Jobs, Jared Maccain, Ming Yao...