Chris Albon — ML Models and Infrastructure at Wikimedia

Gradient Dissent: Conversations on AI

In this episode we're joined by Chris Albon, Director of Machine Learning at the Wikimedia Foundation.

Lukas and Chris talk about Wikimedia's approach to content moderation, what it's like to work in a place so transparent that even internal chats are public, how Wikimedia uses machine learning (spoiler: they do a lot of models to help editors), and why they're switching to Kubeflow and Docker. Chris also shares how his focus on outcomes has shaped his career and his approach to technical interviews.

Show notes: http://wandb.me/gd-chris-albon

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Connect with Chris:

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisalbon

- Website: https://chrisalbon.com/

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:08 How Wikimedia approaches moderation

9:55 Working in the open and embracing humility

16:08 Going down Wikipedia rabbit holes

20:03 How Wikimedia uses machine learning

27:38 Wikimedia's ML infrastructure

42:56 How Chris got into machine learning

46:43 Machine Learning Flashcards and technical interviews

52:10 Low-power models and MLOps

55:58 Outro