⋆⋆⋆ Welcome to my nook of the internet !
My name is Tina Zeng. (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) ‹𝟹
I work at the intersection of technology, policy, and public interest, exploring how AI can empower communities and democratic institutions.
I've come to see AI as the steam engine of our century — profoundly transformative, but in need of deliberate guidance to serve the public good. Channeling this conviction into cautious techno-optimism motivates me to engage with digital ethics, policy, and technology for creating human flourishing. By studying Global Affairs + Computing, Culture & Society at Yale, I aspire to pursue a career in public service at the intersection of public interest technology, law, and government — hoping to contribute to policy and legal frameworks that safeguard our civil liberties in the digital age.
In leveraging emerging technologies — especially AI — for social good, I've conducted research on improving the safety and trustworthiness of AI Visual Question Answering Systems used by blind people (University of Maryland), and user testing for AI legal tech tool for immigrants experiencing wage theft (Justicia Lab).
I am passionate about:
𖤣 civic + public interest technology
𖤣 democratic innovation
𖤣 social entrepreneurship
- 𖤣 AI (the full scope)
- 𖤣 Attention
- 𖤣 Collective Intelligence
- 𖤣 Critical Technology Studies
- 𖤣 Deliberative Democracy
- 𖤣 Governance & Institutional Design
- 𖤣 Human relationships
- 𖤣 Human-machine interfaces
- 𖤣 Internet Cultures and Anthropology, and its Futures
- 𖤣 Law
- 𖤣 Open Data, Open Source, Open Science
- 𖤣 Philanthropy
- 𖤣 Philosophy of Mind
- 𖤣 Politics (Structures of Power)
- 𖤣 Social Networks
- 𖤣 US - China Relations
- 𖤣 Venture Capital
- 𖤣 Chatting with people
- 𖤣 Going to Events
- 𖤣 Introspecting
- 𖤣 Listening to Podcasts (news, political commentary, market, tech)
- 𖤣 Styling the self through Fashion
- 𖤣 Thrifting
- 𖤣 Vibecoding
- 𖤣 Watching Youtube
Currently, I am:
𖤣 Building a dashboard for NYC Community Boards, community-boards.nyc (Dahl Research Scholar at Yale's Institution for Social and Policy Studies)
𖤣 Designing The People's AI, vNYC (AI x deliberative democracy) thepeoplesai.nyc
𖤣 Working with DataHaven, community data organization, (Dwight Hall Urban Fellowship)
𖤣 Working as Student AI Liaison for the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning at Yale
𖤣 Working as Communication Coordinator for Yale's Digital Ethics Center
𖤣 Serving as Associate Board Member for BetaNYC, a civic tech org
Throughout high school, I was a community organizer and activist for education justice and youth civic engagement from Brooklyn, NY. As a first generation low-income student, I believe education is the main way for upward mobility and empowerment allowing our society to become more equitable. This conviction has led me to become deeply and actively involved in the NYC public school activism scene, driven by initiative and impact to advocate for education equity and youth power. I also conducted mixed-method and participatory action research on K12 school cybersecurity policies, youth civic engagement, NYC school funding, and issues impacting NYC youth.
Thank you for being curious about me. I'm also curious about you, so you're most welcome to chat with me at tina.zeng@yale.edu
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