Ezra Wyschogrod

• Lead design of new features by extending existing annotation schemas to cover new areas in the target language • Develop NLP components: write rules, build grammars/FSTs, create annotation systems or mappings for the target language • Develop ASR components: evaluate model performance, test and release model changes • Monitor system performance, identify areas for improvement, and provide urgent fixes when necessary

• Develop NLP components: write rules, build grammars/FSTs, create annotation systems or mappings for the target language • Contribute to the design of new features by extending existing annotation schemas to cover new areas in the target language • Use modeling tools to bootstrap and test new functionalities • Analyze system performance and identify areas for improvement

▪ Manages the response generation machine learning program for non-English locales as part of the launch of Alexa+, Alexa’s LLM-powered stack. Creates working-backward plans, prompt engineers, negotiates requirements with partner teams. Led delivery of 15% improvement for correct dialect, 2.5% improvement in our north star customer quality metric, and 20% reduction in hallucinations, and 100% consistency in Alexa responding in the correct language. ▪ Manages Natural Language Understanding for Alexa’s legacy (pre-Alexa+) stack. Is the central decisionmaker on which feature request and bug fixes to implement, release. Leads response to high severity events for Alexa’s NLU legacy stack that services 500+ million customers across 12 languages. Oversaw a 2.5% reduction in NLU stack errors despite an 80%+ reduction in resourcing due to our shift to Alexa+. ▪ Spearheads linguistic and conversation design for LLM-powered features such as conversational video search, ticket purchases, and audio recommendations, including intents Drove a 60% decrease in video-search labeling errors. ▪ Tests, trains, and releases ASR (voice) improvements, including a 44% improvement in word error rate for 2022 FIFA World Cup Spanish language customer requests.

▪ Implements natural language processing solutions as part of a knowledge engineering team ▪ Works with technical team to implement and maintain scripts for linguistic project support ▪ Provides insights for complex, heterogeneous data ▪ Maintains semantic taxonomies ▪ Leverages open-source data to test and improve ESUSA's semantic infrastructure

▪ Led customization of semantic taxonomy to secure multi-million dollar defense contract ▪ Delivered text mining algorithms to strategic defense clients for document categorization and information extraction to achieve national security objectives ▪ Pioneered central repository of expert system code, accelerating delivery of software to clients.

▪ Tracks legislation related to and affecting national language policy, language education, and language business ▪ Compiles weekly updates on federal legislation and administrative actions to circulate to JNCL-NCLIS Assembly of Delegates, staff and Board Members ▪ Develops and writes weekly blog posts for two series: Language Policy 101 and 2020 Election Coverage ▪ Performs research and analysis using a variety of resources: drafts memos, talking points, and other advocacy documents and materials as assigned for print and online circulation

▪ Facilitated public-private partnership between private sector language companies and US Senate staff.

▪ Developed Introduction to Linguistics curriculum ▪ Instructed 16+ classroom lectures and facilitated seminar discussions ▪ Student evaluation score of 4.43/5 (1=poor, 5=excellent)

▪ Organized a scholarly reading group covering Sociophonetic theory and practice ▪ Set agenda and arranged for student-led presentations and discussion

▪ Provided support for 40+ students in Phonetics, Phonology, and introductory linguistics courses

▪ Conducted forced alignment in PRAAT and analyzed post-nasal fortition in Setswana and Sebirwa

▪ Instructed 20+ classroom lectures and seminar discussions on phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics.

▪ Provided support for 40+ students in Phonetics, Phonology, and introductory linguistics courses. ▪ Conducted forced alignment in PRAAT and analyzed post-nasal fortition in Setswana and Sebirwa.

▪ Conducted phonetic fieldwork of endangered West African language in foreign cultural context ▪ Participated in cultural and linguistic preservation

▪ Created member of congress name pronunciation guide for congressional tracking website ▪ Used technical expertise to create an approachable, user-friendly interface

Linguistics Major, Mathematics Minor