98: Helping computers decode sentences - Interview with Emily M. Bender

Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics

When a human learns a new word, we're learning to attach that word to a set of concepts in the real world. When a computer "learns" a new word, it is creating some associations between that word and other words it has seen before, which can sometimes give it the appearance of understanding, but it doesn't have that real-world grounding, which can sometimes lead to spectacular failures: hilariously implausible from a human perspective, just as plausible from the computer's. In this episode, your host Lauren Gawne gets enthusiastic about how computers process language with Dr. Emily M. Bender, who is a linguistics professor at the University of Washington, USA, and cohost of the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000. We talk about Emily's work trying to formulate a list of rules that a computer can use to generate grammatical sentences in a language, the differences between that and training a computer to generate sentences using the statistical likelihood of what comes next based on all the other sentences, and the further differences between both those things and how humans map language onto the real world. We also talk about paying attention to communities not just data, the labour practices behind large language models, and how Emily's persistent questions led to the creation of the Bender Rule (always state the language you're working on, even if it's English). Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: episodes.fm/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMTk2NDIxOTY5OQ Read the transcript here: lingthusiasm.com/post/767803835730231296/transcript-episode-98 Announcements: The 2024 Lingthusiasm Listener Survey is here! It’s a mix of questions about who you are as our listener, as well as some fun linguistics experiments for you to participate in. If you have taken the survey in previous years, there are new questions, so you can participate again this year. Take the survey here: bit.ly/lingthusiasmsurvey24 In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about three places where we can learn things about linguistics!! We talk about two linguistically interesting museums that Gretchen recently visited: the Estonian National Museum, as well as Mundolingua, a general linguistics museum in Paris. We also talk about Lauren's dream linguistics travel destination: Martha's Vineyard. Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 90+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds. Sign up here: patreon.com/posts/115117867 Also, Patreon now has gift memberships! If you'd like to get a gift subscription to Lingthusiasm bonus episodes for someone you know, or if you want to suggest them as a gift for yourself, here's how to gift a membership: patreon.com/lingthusiasm/gift For links to things mentioned in this episode: lingthusiasm.com/post/767803572750581760/lingthusiasm-episode-98-helping-computers-decode

00:00
56:10
00:00
.
Help
·
Privacy
·
Terms
​
  • avatar
    Apple Podcasts
  • avatar
    Spotify
  • avatar
    Overcast
  • avatar
    Castbox
  • avatar
    Pocket Casts
  • avatar
    Podcast Addict
  • avatar
    iHeartRadio
  • avatar
    Podbean
  • avatar
    Audible
  • avatar
    YouTube Music
  • avatar
    AntennaPod
  • avatar
    Podverse
  • avatar
    Podcast Republic
  • avatar
    Player FM
  • avatar
    Fountain
  • avatar
    Podcast Guru
  • avatar
    Pandora
  • avatar
    iVoox
  • avatar
    Downcast
  • avatar
    Deezer
  • avatar
    Podcast App
  • avatar
    Castamatic
  • avatar
    gPodder
  • avatar
    TuneIn Radio
  • avatar
    RSSRadio
  • avatar
    Castro
  • avatar
    LN Beats
  • avatar
    CurioCaster
  • avatar
    Goodpods
  • avatar
    Podfriend
  • avatar
    Anytime Podcast Player
  • avatar
    TrueFans
  • avatar
    Podurama
  • avatar
    Moon FM
  • avatar
    Global Player
  • avatar
    Breez
  • avatar
    Podknife
  • avatar
    podStation
  • avatar
    Apollo
Help
·
Privacy
·
Terms
98: Helping computers decode sentences - Interview with Emily M. Bender