publications

2026

1. arXiv

   

   Belief Engine: Configurable and Inspectable Stance Dynamics in Multi-Agent LLM Deliberation

   Joshua C Yang, Maurice Flechtner, Damian Dailisan, and Michiel A Bakker

   2026

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   We introduce Belief Engine, an auditable belief-update layer for multi-agent LLM deliberation. The system extracts arguments into structured memory and updates stance with configurable log-odds dynamics, making belief change more inspectable and useful for studying social simulation, disagreement, and deliberation.

   @misc{yang2026belief,
     title = {Belief Engine: Configurable and Inspectable Stance Dynamics in Multi-Agent LLM Deliberation},
     author = {Yang, Joshua C and Flechtner, Maurice and Dailisan, Damian and Bakker, Michiel A},
     journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.15343},
     year = {2026},
     url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.15343},
   }

2. CHI EA

   

   Komitee Equal Shares: A Hybrid Algorithm for Priceable Participatory Funding

   Joshua C. Yang, Noemi Scheurer, and Dirk Helbing

   In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2026

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   Public funding processes demand fairness, learning, and outcomes that participants can understand. We introduce Komitee Equal Shares, a priceable virtual-budget allocation framework that integrates two signals: in voter mode, participants cast point votes; in evaluator mode, small groups assess proposals against collectively defined impact fields. The framework extends the Method of Equal Shares by translating both signals into virtual spending power and producing explicit “voting receipts.” We deployed the framework in the 2025 Kultur Komitee in Winterthur, Switzerland (N = 38), allocating CHF 380,000. Our results show that this hybrid approach generates a more diverse portfolio than simple aggregation and that participants value the fair process over individual control. The framework offers a model where citizens act as both voters and evaluators within a single, proportional, and explainable allocation.

   @inproceedings{10.1145/3772363.3798958,
     author = {Yang, Joshua C. and Scheurer, Noemi and Helbing, Dirk},
     title = {Komitee Equal Shares: A Hybrid Algorithm for Priceable Participatory Funding},
     year = {2026},
     isbn = {9798400722813},
     publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
     address = {New York, NY, USA},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798958},
     doi = {10.1145/3772363.3798958},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
     articleno = {422},
     numpages = {7},
     keywords = {Participatory Budgeting, Algorithmic Accountability, Method of Equal Shares, Deliberation, Digital Democracy},
     series = {CHI EA '26}
   }

2025

1. ACM

   

   Bridging Voting and Deliberation with Algorithms: Field Insights from vTaiwan and Kultur Komitee

   Joshua C Yang, and Fynn Bachmann

   In ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) , 2025

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   Based on field experiments in Taiwan and Switzerland, this paper presents hybrid algorithmic designs that integrate deliberation and voting for digital democracy.

   @inproceedings{yang2025bridging,
     title = {Bridging Voting and Deliberation with Algorithms: Field Insights from vTaiwan and Kultur Komitee},
     author = {Yang, Joshua C and Bachmann, Fynn},
     booktitle = {ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT)},
     year = {2025},
     url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.05017},
   }

2. arXiv

   

   Upgrading Democracies with Fairer Voting Methods

   Evangelos Pournaras, Srijoni Majumdar, Thomas Wellings, Joshua C Yang, Fatemeh B Heravan, Regula Hänggli Fricker, and Dirk Helbing

   arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.14349, 2025

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   A technical and conceptual analysis of how fairer voting methods, such as the Method of Equal Shares, can improve democratic outcomes.

   @article{pournaras2025upgrading,
     title = {Upgrading Democracies with Fairer Voting Methods},
     author = {Pournaras, Evangelos and Majumdar, Srijoni and Wellings, Thomas and Yang, Joshua C and Heravan, Fatemeh B and Fricker, Regula H{\"a}nggli and Helbing, Dirk},
     journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.14349},
     year = {2025},
   }

2024

1. AIES

   

   LLM Voting: Human Choices and AI Collective Decision Making

   Joshua C Yang, Marcin Korecki, Damian Dailisan, Carina I Hausladen, and Dirk Helbing

   In 7th AAAI Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society , 2024

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   This paper explores how Large Language Models (LLMs) can participate in and support human collective decision making. Through experiments comparing human and LLM voting behaviors, the work investigates alignment, bias, and interpretability in AI-assisted democratic processes.

   @inproceedings{yang2024llm,
     title = {LLM Voting: Human Choices and AI Collective Decision Making},
     author = {Yang, Joshua C and Korecki, Marcin and Dailisan, Damian and Hausladen, Carina I and Helbing, Dirk},
     booktitle = {7th AAAI Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society},
     year = {2024},
   }

2. TRC

   

   Democratizing Traffic Control in Smart Cities

   Marcin Korecki, Damian Dailisan, Joshua C Yang, and Dirk Helbing

   Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 2024

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   A decentralized approach to traffic optimization that embeds democratic decision mechanisms into smart city infrastructures.

   @article{korecki2024democratizing,
     title = {Democratizing Traffic Control in Smart Cities},
     author = {Korecki, Marcin and Dailisan, Damian and Yang, Joshua C and Helbing, Dirk},
     journal = {Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies},
     volume = {160},
     pages = {104511},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {Pergamon},
   }

3. ACM

   

   Designing Digital Voting Systems for Citizens: Achieving Fairness and Legitimacy in Participatory Budgeting

   Joshua C Yang, Carina I Hausladen, Dominik Peters, Evangelos Pournaras, Regula Hänggli Fricker, and Dirk Helbing

   Digital Government: Research and Practice, 2024

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   Participatory Budgeting (PB) has evolved into a key democratic instrument for resource allocation in cities. This study identifies how digital design choices influence citizens’ perceptions of fairness and legitimacy in PB voting systems.

   @article{yang2024designing,
     title = {Designing Digital Voting Systems for Citizens: Achieving Fairness and Legitimacy in Participatory Budgeting},
     author = {Yang, Joshua C and Hausladen, Carina I and Peters, Dominik and Pournaras, Evangelos and H{\"a}nggli Fricker, Regula and Helbing, Dirk},
     journal = {Digital Government: Research and Practice},
     volume = {5},
     number = {3},
     pages = {1--30},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {ACM},
     url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3665332},
   }

4. RoyalSoc

   

   Exploring Legitimacy in a Municipal Budget Decision in Switzerland: Empirical Insights into Citizens’ Perceptions

   Regula Hänggli Fricker, Thomas Wellings, Florin Zai, Joshua C Yang, Srijoni Majumdar, Laurent Bernhard, Leopold Weil, Carina I Hausladen, and Evangelos Pournaras

   Philosophical Transactions A, 2024

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   An empirical study investigating how citizens in Switzerland evaluate legitimacy, fairness, and transparency in participatory budget decisions.

   @article{hanggli2024exploring,
     title = {Exploring Legitimacy in a Municipal Budget Decision in Switzerland: Empirical Insights into Citizens’ Perceptions},
     author = {H{\"a}nggli Fricker, Regula and Wellings, Thomas and Zai, Florin and Yang, Joshua C and Majumdar, Srijoni and Bernhard, Laurent and Weil, Leopold and Hausladen, Carina I and Pournaras, Evangelos},
     journal = {Philosophical Transactions A},
     volume = {382},
     number = {2285},
     pages = {20240098},
     year = {2024},
     publisher = {The Royal Society},
   }

2023

1. Elsevier

   

   Democracy by Design: Perspectives for Digitally Assisted, Participatory Upgrades of Society

   Dirk Helbing, Sachit Mahajan, Regula Hänggli Fricker, Andrea Musso, Carina I Hausladen, Cesare Carissimo, Dino Carpentras, Elisabeth Stockinger, Javier Argota Sanchez-Vaquerizo, Joshua C Yang, and  others

   Journal of Computational Science, 2023

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   An interdisciplinary perspective on digital participation, algorithmic fairness, and societal upgrades through technology-enabled democratic systems.

   @article{helbing2023democracy,
     title = {Democracy by Design: Perspectives for Digitally Assisted, Participatory Upgrades of Society},
     author = {Helbing, Dirk and Mahajan, Sachit and Fricker, Regula H{\"a}nggli and Musso, Andrea and Hausladen, Carina I and Carissimo, Cesare and Carpentras, Dino and Stockinger, Elisabeth and Sanchez-Vaquerizo, Javier Argota and Yang, Joshua C and others},
     journal = {Journal of Computational Science},
     volume = {71},
     pages = {102061},
     year = {2023},
     publisher = {Elsevier},
   }

2. IEEE

   

   A Taxonomy for Blockchain-Based Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN)

   Mark C Ballandies, Hongyang Wang, Andrew Chung Chee Law, Joshua C Yang, Christophe Gösken, and Michael Andrew

   In 2023 IEEE 9th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT) , 2023

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   This paper provides a conceptual taxonomy for decentralized infrastructure systems that leverage blockchain technologies to manage shared physical resources.

   @inproceedings{ballandies2023taxonomy,
     title = {A Taxonomy for Blockchain-Based Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN)},
     author = {Ballandies, Mark C and Wang, Hongyang and Law, Andrew Chung Chee and Yang, Joshua C and G{\"o}sken, Christophe and Andrew, Michael},
     booktitle = {2023 IEEE 9th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT)},
     pages = {1--6},
     year = {2023},
     organization = {IEEE},
   }

2020

1. UoM

   

   Respeaking for Word-Spotting as a Collaborative Transcription Method for Oral Languages

   Joshua C Yang

   University of Melbourne , 2020

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   This thesis explores the use of respeaking and speech recognition to assist in documenting and transcribing oral and endangered languages.

   @phdthesis{yang2020respeaking,
     title = {Respeaking for Word-Spotting as a Collaborative Transcription Method for Oral Languages},
     author = {Yang, Joshua C},
     year = {2020},
     school = {University of Melbourne},
   }