From Rails to AI: How MoMA Powers 200,000 Artworks with Ruby and Human Vision
Show notes
Rarely do you get a peek behind the curtain of one of the world's most iconic cultural institutions, but this episode delivers exactly that. Rick Van Michelen, who has spent nearly twelve years at the Museum of Modern Art, joins Valentino Stoll and Joe Leo to unpack how Ruby on Rails quietly powers moma.org and its catalog of over 200,000 artworks.
Because each curatorial department describes art in its own unique way, MoMA requires genuinely bespoke technology solutions, and Rick explains why off-the-shelf platforms simply cannot cut it. (The MoMA Sans font, dating back to the 1930s, has even been incorporated into their AI design tooling.) The conversation moves through MoMA's machine learning partnership with Google, their headless CMS adoption, and the very human challenge of serving audiences ranging from children to PhD researchers.
What does it actually mean when AI makes art, and when is it just "slop"? The group tackles this honestly, pointing to Rafiq Anadol's sophisticated installations as evidence that artistic vision still matters deeply. They also dig into the practical side of AI-assisted development, including managing memory leaks, code review bottlenecks, and a custom terminal tool called Unky Mo.
Tune in for a conversation that is as technically rich as it is genuinely thought-provoking.