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Tom Zick is an AI researcher and attorney, currently serving as Director of Responsible AI at Charles Schwab and as an Affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Her work focuses on developing technical and procedural frameworks to enable effective AI governance. 

Tom has advised organizations ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies on emerging AI and privacy issues, drawing on her experience as both a lawyer and researcher. She has also held roles across academia and the public sector. As a Berkman Klein AI Project Fellow, she partnered with leading frontier AI labs to build collaborations with Harvard’s research community, with particular emphasis on red teaming and model alignment. 

She has also worked with the City of Boston on deploying AI and operationalizing its data governance framework. Tom holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a PhD in Astrophysics from UC Berkeley.

Projects & Tools

Responsible Generative AI: Accountable Technical Oversight

Generative AI is at a tipping point of adoption and impact, much like that of machine learning and AI years ago. But this time the stakes, regulatory environment, potential social…

News

News
May 31, 2023

Exploring the Impacts of Generative AI on the Future of Teaching and Learning

In December 2022, researchers from BKC, OpenAI, and Khan Academy and other experts gathered to discuss the impacts of generative AI on teaching and learning.

Community

arXiv

Comparing Apples to Oranges

A Taxonomy for Navigating the Global Landscape of AI Regulation

With Sacha Alanoca and Kevin Klyman, Affiliates Shira Gur-Arieh and Tom Zick “present a taxonomy to map the global landscape of AI regulation.”

May 19, 2025
EdTech Magazine

How Personhood Credentials Could Impact Higher Education

This new type of identity verification aims to separate humans from artificial intelligence.

Tom Zick weighs in on the utility of personhood credentials for combatting AI in higher education.

Nov 4, 2024

Personhood Credentials

Artificial intelligence and the value of privacy-preserving tools to distinguish who is real online

Wendy Seltzer and Tom Zick consider the efficacy of implementing "personhood credentials" as means to deter bad actors online while maintaining users' anonymity.

Aug 26, 2024
UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity

Choices, Risks, and Reward Reports

Reinforcement learning could be the most promising path to artificial general intelligence. But Tom Zick and a team of other researchers urge caution in a new report.

Feb 1, 2022
BKC Medium Collection

Between Games and Apocalyptic Robots

Tom Zick considers the near-term societal risks of reinforcement learning

Apr 16, 2021