Aaron Halfaker: Difference between revisions

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'''Aaron Halfaker''' ({{IPAc-en|'|h|æ|f|eɪ|k|ər}}) is an American computer scientist and a principal research scientist at the [[Wikimedia Foundation]].<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 | accessdate=11 December 2014 | author=Hicks, Jesse}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |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 |website=Wired |publication-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]] | accessdate = June 4, 2017 | date = 12 November 2015 }}</ref>

==Education and career==

Halfaker earned a B.S. 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 associate professor 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 |accessdate=2017-01-31}}</ref> He later earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the [[GroupLens]] research lab at the [[University of Minnesota]] in 2013. He is known for his research on [[Wikipedia]] 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]]|accessdate=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}}</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 | accessdate=11 December 2014 | author=LeJacq, Yannick}}</ref> He has said 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 | accessdate=11 December 2014 | author=Jacobs, Harrison}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520446/the-decline-of-wikipedia/ | title=The Decline of Wikipedia | work=MIT Technology Review | date=22 October 2013 | accessdate=13 March 2015 | author=Simonite, Tom}}</ref> Halfaker has also studied automated accounts on Wikipedia, known as [[software agent|bot]]s,<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. | work=Newsweek | date=25 February 2014 | accessdate=11 December 2014 | author=Kloc, Joe}}</ref> and the way they affect new contributors to the site.<ref name=verge/> While a graduate student, he, along with [[Stuart Geiger]], developed a tool for Wikipedia editing called "[[Wikipedia:Snuggle|Snuggle]]", the goal of which is to eliminate [[Vandalism on Wikipedia|vandalism]] and spam, and to also highlight 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 (Citation Needed) | work=Newsweek | date=31 October 2013 | accessdate=26 December 2014 | author=Baker, Katie}}</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 | work=The Atlantic | date=8 June 2015 | accessdate=22 February 2016 | author=Matias, J. Natian}}</ref> He has also built an [[artificial intelligence]] engine known as "Objective Revision Evaluation Service" (or ORES for short), used to identify vandalism on Wikipedia and distinguish it from good faith edits.<ref>{{cite web | 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 | work=Wired | date=1 December 2015 | accessdate=12 January 2016 | author=Metz, Cade}}</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 | accessdate=22 February 2016 | author=Simonite, Tom}}</ref>

==References==