Dr. Nicole Brownlie is a researcher and educator working at the intersection of ethical AI, assessment, and professional judgement.
Across education and related professions, practitioners are increasingly expected to use AI in high-stakes contexts, often without clear, defensible ways to maintain responsibility, integrity, and care in their decision-making. Dr. Brownlie’s work addresses this gap. She develops and translates research into practical frameworks that help professionals think critically about when, how, and to what extent AI should be used. This includes the Ethical Augmentation Framework (EAF), which centres human judgement, relational practice, and ownership of decision-making in AI-influenced environments.
Her background spans secondary teaching and higher education, with a focus on curriculum design, teacher development, and student wellbeing. Through her doctoral research, she developed a set of quality indicators for effective summative assessment, contributing to national conversations about assessment, standards, and teacher practice.
As Director of Primary Education Programs at the University of Southern Queensland, she leads program design and renewal across initial teacher education, alongside teaching in teacher education and educational counselling. Her work prepares future educators to navigate complex, evolving professional contexts with confidence and care.
She is currently working with schools, researchers, and emerging industry partners to better understand how AI is being used in practice, where it is creating risk or uncertainty, and how professionals can be supported to make confident, defensible decisions. She welcomes conversation with others working in this space.