Etsy’s Thomas Hughes to Speak at W&L Hughes' public lecture, titled "Ethical Considerations for the Application of Machine Learning at Scale" will be delivered on May 2 at 4 p.m.

By Taylor Meeker
April 26, 2022

Thomas Hughes, applied machine learning leader at Etsy, will give a public lecture at Washington and Lee University on May 2 in the Hillel Multipurpose Room at 4 p.m. The title of his talk is “Ethical Considerations for the Application of Machine Learning at Scale.”

This event is free and open to the public.

Thomas Hughes is an industry leader in applied machine learning and is currently overseeing a team using algorithms to evaluate dangerous content on Etsy. Previously, at Amazon Web Services, Hughes assisted some of the biggest companies in the world with solving problems using machine learning in industries such as technology, transportation logistics, health care, and education.

Hughes received his Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Barbara, with a focus in political theory. Post-graduation, he lectured at his alma mater and then at California Lutheran University on topics ranging from the American government to the history of political thought.

“Working for companies such as Amazon and Etsy, Thomas Hughes has applied a unique intellectual and professional skill set to engage emerging questions involving data science, machine learning, and their ethical applications,” said Stuart Gray, associate professor of politics.

“With a Ph.D. in political theory, Dr. Hughes brings a particularly valuable interdisciplinary perspective to emerging problems involving the ethical use of data in the 21^st century.”