Tal August

I am an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I study how to adapt language to different audiences, with a focus on knowledge intensive domains like science, health and legal communication. I conduct empirical analyses to study how changes in language will affect different audiences, and I build intelligent reading and writing systems for augmenting our language in new ways. The long term goal of my research is to improve our communication with—and understanding of—one another through technology.

I previously was a Young Investigator at the Allen Institute for AI. I received my PhD at the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, advised by Katharina Reinecke and Noah Smith.

My CV: PDF.

Interested in working with me?

If you are interested in working with me, instead of emailing me please fill out this interest survey. As much as I would like to, I rarely have time to respond to emails from prospective students. The interest form is the best way of getting in touch with me.

Ph.D. student applicants: I will be recruiting 1 to 2 students for Fall 2025, please fill out the interest form, apply to UIUC CS, and mention me in your application.