Linguistics at Google

Google research writes about what they are doing in computational linguistics.  As it implies 'computational' means linguistics applied and delivered in systems.    A very important topic in a world where cognitive systems need to understand us and be understood by us.  A look at the upcoming ACL (Association for Computational Linguistics)  meeting and papers being given. Worth following.  

" ... Our systems are used in numerous ways across Google, impacting user experience in search, mobile, apps, ads, translate and more. Our work spans the range of traditional NLP tasks, with general-purpose syntax and semantic algorithms underpinning more specialized systems.
Our researchers are experts in natural language processing and machine learning, and combine methodological research with applied science, and our engineers are equally involved in long-term research efforts and driving immediate applications of our technology.  ... "   

Chomsky and non speaking AI

Not sure I complete agree, or that I agree that AI requires speaking. Most of the AI I have done is about augmenting with AI, mot necessarily needing to speak it, but to delivery in anyway that is useful.  Was Chomsky responsible?  Net, I say no.

SocioPragmatic Models of Text Analysis

Mona Diab of GWU gave the CSI  talk today:

Towards Building Effective Computational Sociopragmatics Models of Human Cognition

Slides.   For talk recording, go here, and follow instructions using Replay ID: 471310086028

Though technical, the implications can be understood from the slides.

Excellent talk on the use of modeling to analyze text to better understand its meaning from a social and pragmatic - usage perspective.  Including alignment and participation in groups.   Detection and analysis of subgroups.  Looks at how this can be used for multiple languages.  Its use for marketing engagement was also mentioned and briefly discussed.   Sponsored by DARPA and IARPA

" .. Before joining GWU, Mona was Research Scientist (Principle Investigator) at the Center for Computational Learning Systems (CCLS). She is also co-founder of the CADIM group which is one of the reference points on computational processing of Arabic and its dialects.   Her Link.

Sparseness of Linguistic Big Data

Interesting comment that we can confirm, but it's not unlike many events, statistically rare events are often problematic.  In Language Log:    At first I disagreed, we generate huge amounts of textual content every day.  But consider:   " ... Big data is at its best when analyzing things that are extremely common, but often falls short when analyzing things that are less common. For instance, programs that use big data to deal with text, such as search engines and translation programs, often rely heavily on something called trigrams: ..... " 

Txt Speak as Linguistic Miracle

Ars Technica on a TED Talk.   I am still skeptical that our languages will evolve into a simpler, acronym ridden shortening of tokens and meme pointers.   The article and talk think that this is emerging art.