Wikipedia, largely used as a synecdoche for open production generally, is a large, complex, distributed system that needs to solve a set of "open problems" efficiently in order to thrive. In this talk, Aaron Halfaker uses the metaphor of biology as a "living system" to discuss the relationship between subsystem efficiency and the overall health of Wikipedia. Specifically, Halfaker describes Wikipedia's quality control subsystem and some trade-offs that were made in order to make this system efficient through the introduction of subjective algorithms and human computation. Finally, he uses critiques waged by feminist HCI to argue for a new strategy for increasing the adaptive capacity of this subsystem and speaks generally about improving the practice of applying subjective algorithms in social spaces.

For more about this event, visit:

https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2016/02/Halfaker