KMWorld 2018 Puts Sharp Focus on AI, Machine Learning, and Collaboration

Taxonomy

In a highly entertaining presentation at Taxonomy Boot Camp 2018, Bob Kasenchak, director of business development, Access Innovations, Inc., said people make inferences based on semantics (as in a machine learning environment), and therefore putting things into categories becomes an important ethical gesture. As taxonomists name things,  and put things into categories, he said, they are therefore making ethical decisions as part of their job description.

In a machine learning context, taxonomists must be careful with categories and naming not only because it’s ethical—but also because machine learning is a “garbage in, garbage out” operation.  The bottom line is that if you are going into, or would like to think about, machine learning in the future as part of your taxonomy program, the implications the structure of your taxonomy are of enormous consequence. When companies accumulate data, categorizing terms and adding languages are becoming essential to the business, he stressed.

Taxonomy, and the use of metadata to formulate search, integrate new languages for content distribution, or boost cognitive computing, was the focus of a series of use cases presented during Taxonomy Boot Camp 2018.

Yonah Levenson, manager, taxonomy, and Laura Dawson, metadata analyst, HBO, described how they recently created a system to describe language-related content to accommodate the overseas market.

And, in a session titled “Creating a Positive Change Culture,” Ann Marie DiNardo, user adoption and stakeholder engagement lead, REI Systems, looked at how to create a change culture that supports organizations in making their vision into a reality.

Looking at knowledge management in the context of change management, DiNardo noted it is important that a business case for change is clearly articulated and that knowledge management tools can help create a change culture.