When would you use a CRF instead of an HMM for sequence labeling, and why?

Both tag sequences, but one is generative and one is discriminative, and that difference decides whether you can throw in overlapping features. Here is the comparison that shows you know the modeling tradeoff, not just the acronyms.

Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Applied AI Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.