Lezing 1853 – Prof. dr. Malvina Nissim

SprekerProf. dr. M. Nissim (RUG)
TitelThe Perks and Perils of Language Technology
Datum/tijdDinsdag 17 mei 2022 om 20:00u
Taal lezingEngels
TerugkijkenDe lezing kan online teruggekeken worden via YouTube.
Samenvatting

Tools based on Language Technology are by now part of daily life, both in the personal realm as well as in the work-related arena. Recommender systems on social media, automatic translators, job application assessors are just some examples. In my talk I will explore the relationship between the giant leap forward Language Technology research and applications have made in recent years, and the risks such positive developments might pose.

I will zoom in on bias and show how it can be found in models, algorithms, data, society, and – importantly – in ourselves, too. Also, the fact that contemporary language models are able to generate text that can be indistinguishable from human-produced language yields potentially dangerous situations where, for example, large amounts of unaccountable machine-generated hateful comments might be spread to social media, or fake news can be beautifully concocted and massively circulated (at a volume and speed which are obviously unparalleled by human production). I will critically reflect on these aspects by means of examples and by interacting as much as possible with the audience.