Tina Austin

Tina Austin is an author whose work spans education, research, and responsible AI adoption. Her background includes university teaching, biomedical research, and consulting. She currently serves as Director, AI Education & Learning Systems—Public Interest Technology at UCLA.

She works with universities, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations to help them adopt artificial intelligence thoughtfully and responsibly—guiding institutional AI adoption strategy, change management, and governance from isolated pilots to sustainable, equitable transformation.

As the author of The UnBlooms™ Workbook: How to Design, Teach, and Assess Human Reasoning in the AI Era, she has taught at UCLA, USC, CSU, and Caltech in subjects spanning regenerative medicine, communication, computational biology, AI ethics, and critical thinking with AI. Her work has also appeared in Inside Higher Ed.

Building learning communities

In 2022, soon after ChatGPT’s release, Tina launched the University of California AI Initiative, a statewide community of practice that brought together lecturers and instructors to share and develop effective strategies for integrating AI into teaching and research. Since then, she has supported nearly 1,800 faculty in applying her UnBlooms™ Framework—a reimagining of Bloom’s Taxonomy that cultivates critical thinking and reflection in AI-enhanced learning, and the foundation of her practical guide for educators.

Policy and public leadership

Tina serves on multiple AI taskforces and advisory boards, including the California Department of Education AI & Workforce Board, where she is co-authoring language for Senate Bill 1288 on statewide AI literacy, and the Los Angeles AI Taskforce. She guides responsible AI implementation across higher education and the Los Angeles Regional Consortium, a nonprofit network supporting AI innovation across California’s community colleges and K–12 systems.

International recognition

Tina has been recognized as one of ASU+GSV’s Top Leading Women in AI (2025), a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (2025–26), a SXSW EDU judge (2026), and one of a small group of global faculty invited to speak at OpenAI Headquarters for its 2025 Higher Education Summit.

She presented the UnBlooms™ AI Safety Literacy Framework at UNESCO House in Paris at IASEAI’26. Her work has been featured by CNN, Oxford University’s Department of Education AIEOU, the OpenAI Global Faculty AI Project, and Microsoft.

Making AI gainable

Tina is the founder of GAInable.ai, a platform where faculty learn how to make generative AI genuinely gainable—using it to gain time, insight, and equity without losing human values. Through GAInable.ai, she designs professional learning programs that help educators navigate AI responsibly, equitably, and confidently. She has also contributed to global frameworks including Dr. Perkins’ AI Assessment Scale.

In 2025, Tina was selected as one of the first AI Education Advisors to the Marconi Society’s AI Institute. In this role, she helps advance responsible AI education and scale institutional frameworks that move universities and technology leaders from isolated pilots to meaningful, equitable transformation.

Whether speaking on stage, consulting with universities, or mentoring educators, Tina champions an inclusive vision of AI-ready learning grounded in science, ethics, and human insight. Outside the classroom, she draws inspiration from painting, travel, hiking, and yoga.