Jewish Chicago Magazine

At Chicago Public Media, Mark is using his technical expertise to help build a robust local news ecosystem in Chicago. He is helping news organizations utilize artificial intelligence in ways that are helpful, while reducing some of the challenges that AI development presents to them. Among his many innovations, he created a Spanish translation tool to enable the Chicago Sun-Times to expand its breaking-news coverage in Spanish.

Outside of his day job, Mark gives back to the community in many ways.

Signal Officer in the Illinois Army National Guard, he leads a team of soldiers who specialize in radio communications. He also takes an active role in Jewish army life, including supporting his Jewish peers and launching a Torah study program while at Officer Candidate School.

Mark also serves as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate for children in foster care in the Chicago area, and previously worked as a volunteer on a suicide hotline in the United Kingdom.
 

Age: 34

Pronouns: he/him/his

Primary gig: AI Fellow at Chicago Public Media (we are WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Vocalo). My job is to help CPM use AI to the extent that it is helpful, and to mitigate the many challenges that AI development presents to news organizations.

On the side: Signal Officer in the Illinois Army National Guard

How do you Jew in Chicago? I love trad-egal Kabbalat Shabbat with Mah Tovu in West Ridge. There, there’s a music-forward group called L’chu N’ranenah that meets monthly and it’s my favorite place to do Jewish ritual. I also attend events at Base Andersonville.

Something most people don’t know about you: I have number-color synaesthesia—I associate six with green, for example.

A Jew who inspires you: Paul Wellstone

Your best piece of advice: Always use a sharp knife in the kitchen.