John Thatcher
@johnthatcher
AI researcher and data specialist focused on reinforcement learning from human feedback.
What I'm looking for
I am an AI researcher and data specialist with over seven years' experience in data annotation, machine learning, and reinforcement learning research, currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield focused on RLHF for LLMs and robotics. I have industry experience at Apple and Endava, plus academic tutoring and research supervision, and I have published and presented work at IJCAI and NeurIPS workshops.
I excel at data evaluation, object tagging, improving AI model performance, and collaborating remotely across cross-functional teams; my work concentrates on reducing human burden in interactive RLHF systems while advancing safe, effective AI through rigorous evaluation and applied research.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
Tutor & Research Assistant
University of Sheffield
Sep 2020 - Aug 2022 (1 year 11 months)
Delivered tutorials in AI, reinforcement learning, and programming; supervised undergraduate ML projects and final-year dissertations, improving student project outcomes and assessment quality.
Conducted data annotation and pairwise quality assurance for speech recognition and NLP projects, improving training data quality and model performance in production systems.
Built data pipelines and preprocessing scripts for client AI systems, automating data cleaning and evaluation to accelerate delivery of AI-integrated solutions for finance and retail clients.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
University of Sheffield
Doctor of Philosophy, Computer Science
2022 -
Activities and societies: Research on RLHF for LLMs and robotics; academic teaching and research supervision; conference publications and presentations.
Pursuing a PhD in Computer Science researching reinforcement learning from human feedback to improve deep RL and fine-tune AI agents with minimal human input.
University of Sheffield
Master of Science, Computer Science
2019 - 2021
Grade: Distinction
Activities and societies: Thesis on reinforcement learning in conversational AI; attended workshops and departmental research activities.
Completed an MSc in Computer Science with Distinction, focusing on applications of reinforcement learning in conversational AI systems.
University of Sheffield
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science
2015 - 2018
Activities and societies: Undergraduate coursework in AI and programming; supervised later as a tutor and research assistant.
Completed a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science covering core topics in AI, programming, and machine learning.
Availability
Location
Authorized to work in
Job categories
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