Ciana Tzuo

Ideas

Questions I'm still following.

I'm drawn to questions that sit between disciplines—technology and history, innovation and anxiety, security and freedom, machines and the people who use them.

Some become research papers. Some become essays, interviews, experiments, or projects. Most lead to another question.

01 · Technology & Human Behavior

What happens to people when technology changes faster than they do?

I'm interested not only in what new technologies can do, but in how people understand them, trust them, fear them, and adapt to them. That question has taken me from the history of machine-learning anxiety to contemporary research on human–AI interaction and public AI literacy.

03 · Technology & Culture

What happens when machines start making culture with us?

I'm interested in what happens when technology moves beyond computation and enters creative life—changing how people make images, music, performances, stories, and meaning.

04 · History, Culture & Memory

What does culture remember that history books don't?

I'm interested in the ways art preserves the arguments and anxieties of its time. That question changed how I look at Broadway—not simply as entertainment, but as a record of American culture, politics, identity, and technological change.

Essays & Arguments

Writing is where I test an argument.

John Locke · 2023–2025

2023

In What Sense Are You the Same Person Today That You Were When You Were Ten?

Personal identity · Philosophy

An early entry in a three-year series of serious argumentative writing — exploring personal identity and what it means to remain the same person over time.

Philosophy · High Distinction ↗Preview essay →

2024

Has Music Ever Significantly Changed the Course of History?

Music & historical change · History

A historical argument on music as a force in political and cultural change — continuing a pattern of returning to rigorous essay writing across disciplines.

History · Commendation ↗Preview essay →

2025

According to Bertrand Russell, "Hitler is an outcome of Rousseau; Roosevelt and Churchill of Locke." To what extent was he correct?

Political philosophy · History

The third consecutive year in the John Locke Essay Competition — a historical argument on political philosophy, revolution, and the lineage of modern leadership.

History · Shortlisted ↗Preview essay →

Other Essays

Where I Write

I explore these questions through research, journalism, independent publishing, and conversation.

Currently Thinking About

Questions without projects. Yet.

  • When does personalization become manipulation?

  • What gets lost when human judgment becomes a metric?

  • Why do people trust information more when it looks quantitative?

  • What does it mean to be AI-literate when the technology changes every few months?

  • Can a machine participate in culture without experiencing it?