Content Strategy Insights cover image

Content Strategy Insights

Fran Alexander: Democratizing Taxonomy Practice

Oct 7, 2024
Fran Alexander, a Montreal-based taxonomist, champions the democratization of taxonomy practices. She emphasizes the growing role of taxonomies in managing complex AI systems and enhancing their functionalities. The conversation highlights the balance between structured organization and user-friendly categorization, crucial for effective information navigation. She also delves into the relationship between ontologies and knowledge graphs, and encourages community engagement through events like the Taxonomy Bootcamp in London, making taxonomy accessible for more practitioners.
32:58

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Fran Alexander emphasizes the importance of democratizing taxonomy practice to improve knowledge management and empower individuals within organizations.
  • The transition of taxonomies from assisting machines to aiding human navigation of data highlights their growing significance in the age of AI.

Deep dives

The Evolving Role of Taxonomy

Taxonomy has shifted from primarily assisting machines in understanding human concepts to helping humans navigate complex machine-generated data. This transition highlights the growing importance of taxonomies in the era of artificial intelligence, particularly in structuring knowledge for better comprehension and application. The increasing sophistication of AI and large language models (LLMs) has created a demand for effectively organized semantic frameworks, enabling these systems to perform more accurately and responsibly. As a result, there is significant excitement and growth within the taxonomy field, marking a boom period for taxonomists.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode