Aaron Halfaker: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American computer scientist}}

| caption = Halfaker in 2013

| birth_place = [[Virginia, Minnesota]], US<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/halfak/status/826529576906059780 |title=Twitter status |last=Halfaker |first=Aaron |website=Twitter |date=31 January 2017}}</ref>

| thesis_title = Maintaining the efficiency of open production systems at scale: A case study of wikipedia

| thesis_year = 2013

| thesis_url = https://hdl.handle.net/11299/162489

| fields = {{Plainlist|

* [[Open manufacturing|Open production]]

* [[Wikipedia]]

* [[Social Science]]

* [[Human-Computer Interaction]]

* [[Computer-supported cooperative work]]<ref name=gs/>}}

| workplaces = [[Microsoft Research]]<br />[[Wikimedia Foundation]]<br />[[Google]]<ref name=cv/>

| alma_mater = [[The College of St. Scholastica]] (BS)<br /> [[University of Minnesota]] (PhD)<ref name="tmn">{{cite web|url=http://tech.mn/news/2013/12/11/aaron-halfaker-wikimedia-foundation/|title=Wicked Smart: 5 questions with U of M PhD and Wikipedian Aaron Halfaker|date=11 December 2013|publisher=TechMN|access-date=5 January 2015|archive-date=17 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217193020/http://tech.mn/news/2013/12/11/aaron-halfaker-wikimedia-foundation/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~halfak/docs/curriculum_vitae |title=Aaron Halfaker Curriculum Vitae}}</ref>

| doctoral_advisor = [[John T. Riedl]]<ref name=phd/>

| module = {{Listen|pos=center| embed=yes |filename = Aaron Halfaker.voice recording.oga |title = Halfaker's voice |type = speech |description = recorded January 2017}}

'''Aaron Halfaker''' ({{IPAc-en|'|h|æ|f|eɪ|k|ər}}; born December 27, 1983) is a principal applied scientist at [[Microsoft Research]].<ref name=gs>{{Google scholar id}}</ref><ref name=microsoftie>{{Cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/ahalfaker/|title=Aaron Halfaker at Microsoft Research|website=[[Microsoft]]}}</ref><ref name=cv>{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2020/10/Aaron-Halfakers-CV.2020-08-21.pdf|title=AARON HALFAKER PHD|website=microsoft.com|accessdate=5 February 2022}}</ref> He previously served as a [[research scientist]] at the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] until 2020.<ref name=verge>{{cite web | url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/18/5412636/this-machine-kills-trolls-how-wikipedia-robots-snuff-out-vandalism | title=This machine kills trolls | work=The Verge | date=18 February 2014 | access-date=11 December 2014 | author=Hicks, Jesse}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2017/03/internet-bots-fight-theyre-human/ |title=Internet Bots Fight Each Other Because They're All Too Human |last=Simon |first=Matt |magazine=Wired |date=1 March 2017 |access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff_and_contractors | title = Staff and Contractors | website = [[Wikimedia Foundation]] | access-date = June 4, 2017 | date = 12 November 2015 }}</ref>

==Education==

Halfaker earned a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[computer science]] from the [[College of St. Scholastica]] in 2006, where he started off as a [[physical therapy]] major but switched to computer science after taking a programming class with Diana Johnson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Computer science alum making headlines through work at Wikipedia |author-first=Valerie |author-last=Clark |url=https://www.css.edu/undergraduate/outcomes/alumni-success-stories/new-frontiers.html |access-date=2017-01-31}}</ref>Hesubsequently earned a [[PhD]] in computer science from the [[GroupLens Research]] lab at the [[University of Minnesota]] in 2013.<ref name=phd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Aaron|last=Halfaker |title=Maintaining the efficiency of open production systems at scale: A case study of wikipedia |publisher=University of Minnesota |date=2013 |url=https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/162489 |website=umn.edu |oclc=1194828572 |id= {{ProQuest|3607902}} |hdl=11299/162489}} {{free access}}</ref>

==Career and research==

Halfaker is known for his research on [[Wikipedia]]<ref name="HalfakerKittur2011">{{cite book|last1=Halfaker|first1=Aaron|last2=Kittur|first2=Aniket|last3=Riedl|first3=John|title=Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration |chapter=Don't bite the newbies |year=2011|pages=163–172|doi=10.1145/2038558.2038585|isbn=9781450309097|s2cid=2818300|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="PancieraHalfaker2009">{{cite book|last1=Panciera|first1=Katherine|last2=Halfaker|first2=Aaron|last3=Terveen|first3=Loren|title=Proceedings of the 2009 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work |chapter=Wikipedians are born, not made |year=2009|pages=51–60|doi=10.1145/1531674.1531682|isbn=9781605585000|s2cid=6286454|language=en-US}}</ref> and the decrease in the number of active editors of the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-01/wikipedia-getting-worse-it-gets-better|title=Wikipedia is getting Worse as it gets Better|last=Nosowitz|first=Dan|date=January 28, 2013|publisher=[[Popular Science]]|access-date=5 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Halfaker|first1=A.|last2=Geiger|first2=R. S.|last3=Morgan|first3=J. T.|last4=Riedl|first4=J.|title=The Rise and Decline of an Open Collaboration System: How Wikipedia's Reaction to Popularity Is Causing Its Decline|journal=American Behavioral Scientist|date=28 December 2012|volume=57|issue=5|pages=664–688|doi=10.1177/0002764212469365|s2cid=144208941|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ibtimes.com/wikipedia-reaches-3-billion-monthly-mobile-views-amid-concerns-about-contributor-content-1057556 | title=Wikipedia Reaches 3 Billion Monthly Mobile Views Amid Concerns About Contributor Content | work=[[International Business Times]] | date=2 February 2013 | access-date=11 December 2014 | author=LeJacq, Yannick | language=en-US}}</ref> He has said in autumn 2013 that Wikipedia began a "decline phase" around 2007 and has continued to decline since then.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-shows-wikipedias-huge-participation-problem-2013-11 | title=Wikipedia Could Degenerate If It Can't Fix One Big Problem | work=Business Insider | date=22 November 2013 | access-date=11 December 2014 | author=Jacobs, Harrison | language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520446/the-decline-of-wikipedia/ | title=The Decline of Wikipedia | website=technologyreview.com | publisher=MIT Technology Review | date=22 October 2013 | access-date=13 March 2015 | author=Simonite, Tom | archive-date=19 June 2015 | archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150619205842/http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520446/the-decline-of-wikipedia/ | url-status=dead |language=en-US }}</ref> Halfaker has also studied [[software agent]]s (bots) on Wikipedia,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newsweek.com/wikipedia-edited-bots-thats-good-thing-230234 | title=Wikipedia Is Edited by Bots. That's a Good Thing. | website=newsweek.com | date=25 February 2014 | access-date=11 December 2014 | author=Kloc, Joe |language=en-US}}</ref> and the way they affect new contributors to the site.<ref name=verge/> While a graduate student he developed a tool for Wikipedia editing called Snuggle with Stuart Geiger. Snuggle tackles [[vandalism on Wikipedia]] and highlights constructive contributions by new editors.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newsweek.com/2013/11/01/wikipedias-wobbling-citation-needed-243876.html | title=Wikipedia's Wobbling (Cit{{not a typo|ation Nee}}ded) | website=newsweek.com | date=31 October 2013 | access-date=26 December 2014 | author=Baker, Katie |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/the-tragedy-of-the-digital-commons/395129/ | title=The Tragedy of the Digital Commons | publisher=The Atlantic|website=theatlantic.com | date=8 June 2015 | access-date=22 February 2016 | author=Matias, J. Natian |language=en-US}}</ref> He has also built an [[artificial intelligence]] (AI) service called Objective Revision Evaluation Service (ORES) in 2015, used to identify vandalism on Wikipedia and distinguish it from [[good faith]] edits.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/2015/12/wikipedia-is-using-ai-to-expand-the-ranks-of-human-editors/ | title=Wikipedia Deploys AI to Expand Its Ranks of Human Editors | magazine=Wired | date=1 December 2015 | access-date=12 January 2016 | author=Metz, Cade |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/544036/artificial-intelligence-aims-to-make-wikipedia-friendlier-and-better/ | title=Artificial Intelligence Aims to Make Wikipedia Friendlier and Better | work=MIT Technology Review | date=1 December 2015 | access-date=22 February 2016 | author=Simonite, Tom}}</ref>

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni]]

[[Category:Wikipedia researchers]]

[[Category:People from Virginia, Minnesota]]

[[Category:1983 births]]

[[Category:American Wikimedians]]