111 research outputs found
Restricting the Weak-Generative Capacity of Synchronous Tree-Adjoining Grammars
The formalism of synchronous tree-adjoining grammars, a variant of standard
tree-adjoining grammars (TAG), was intended to allow the use of TAGs for
language transduction in addition to language specification. In previous work,
the definition of the transduction relation defined by a synchronous TAG was
given by appeal to an iterative rewriting process. The rewriting definition of
derivation is problematic in that it greatly extends the expressivity of the
formalism and makes the design of parsing algorithms difficult if not
impossible. We introduce a simple, natural definition of synchronous
tree-adjoining derivation, based on isomorphisms between standard
tree-adjoining derivations, that avoids the expressivity and implementability
problems of the original rewriting definition. The decrease in expressivity,
which would otherwise make the method unusable, is offset by the incorporation
of an alternative definition of standard tree-adjoining derivation, previously
proposed for completely separate reasons, thereby making it practical to
entertain using the natural definition of synchronous derivation. Nonetheless,
some remaining problematic cases call for yet more flexibility in the
definition; the isomorphism requirement may have to be relaxed. It remains for
future research to tune the exact requirements on the allowable mappings.Comment: 21 pages, uses lingmacros.sty, psfig.sty, fullname.sty; minor
typographical changes onl
Lessons from a Restricted Turing Test
We report on the recent Loebner prize competition inspired by Turing's test
of intelligent behavior. The presentation covers the structure of the
competition and the outcome of its first instantiation in an actual event, and
an analysis of the purpose, design, and appropriateness of such a competition.
We argue that the competition has no clear purpose, that its design prevents
any useful outcome, and that such a competition is inappropriate given the
current level of technology. We then speculate as to suitable alternatives to
the Loebner prize.Comment: 20 page
An Alternative Conception of Tree-Adjoining Derivation
The precise formulation of derivation for tree-adjoining grammars has
important ramifications for a wide variety of uses of the formalism, from
syntactic analysis to semantic interpretation and statistical language
modeling. We argue that the definition of tree-adjoining derivation must be
reformulated in order to manifest the proper linguistic dependencies in
derivations. The particular proposal is both precisely characterizable through
a definition of TAG derivations as equivalence classes of ordered derivation
trees, and computationally operational, by virtue of a compilation to linear
indexed grammars together with an efficient algorithm for recognition and
parsing according to the compiled grammar.Comment: 33 page
Recognizing Uncertainty in Speech
We address the problem of inferring a speaker's level of certainty based on
prosodic information in the speech signal, which has application in
speech-based dialogue systems. We show that using phrase-level prosodic
features centered around the phrases causing uncertainty, in addition to
utterance-level prosodic features, improves our model's level of certainty
classification. In addition, our models can be used to predict which phrase a
person is uncertain about. These results rely on a novel method for eliciting
utterances of varying levels of certainty that allows us to compare the utility
of contextually-based feature sets. We elicit level of certainty ratings from
both the speakers themselves and a panel of listeners, finding that there is
often a mismatch between speakers' internal states and their perceived states,
and highlighting the importance of this distinction.Comment: 11 page
Equity for Open-Access Journal Publishing
Open-access journals, which provide access to their scholarly articles freely and without limitations, are at a systematic disadvantage relative to traditional closed-access journal publishing and its subscription-based business model. A simple, cost-effective remedy to this inequity could put open-access publishing on a path to become a sustainable, efficient system
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There Can Be No Turing-Test--Passing Memorizing Machines
Anti-behaviorist arguments against the validity of the Turing Test as a sufficient condition for attributing intelligence are based on a memorizing machine, which has recorded within it responses to every possible Turing Test interaction of up to a fixed length. The mere possibility of such a machine is claimed to be enough to invalidate the Turing Test.
I consider the nomological possibility of memorizing machines, and how long a Turing Test they can pass. I replicate my previous analysis of this critical Turing Test length based on the age of the universe, show how considerations of communication time shorten that estimate and allow eliminating the sole remaining contingent assumption, and argue that the bound is so short that it is incompatible with the very notion of the Turing Test. I conclude that the memorizing machine objection to the Turing Test as a sufficient condition for attributing intelligence is invalid.Engineering and Applied Science
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Ecumenical open access and the Finch Report principles
Engineering and Applied Science
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The Case for the Journal’s Use of a CC-BY License
Journal of Language Modelling provides its articles under a Creative Commons CC-BY license. We discuss why this is the appropriate choice for the journal.Engineering and Applied Science
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Criteria for Designing Computer Facilities for Linguistic Analysis
Abstract: In the natural-language-processing research community, the usefulness of computer tools for testing linguistic analyses is often taken for granted. Linguists, on the other hand, have generally been unaware of or ambivalent about such devices. We discuss several aspects of computer use that are preeminent in establishing the utility for linguistic research of computer tools and describe several factors that must be considered in designing such computer tools to aid in testing linguistic analyses of grammatical phenomena. A series of design alternatives, some theoretically and some practically motivated, is then based on the resultant criteria. We present one way of pinning down these choices which culminates in a description of a particular grammar formalism for use in computer linguistic tools. The PATR-II formalism this serves to exemplify our general perspective.Engineering and Applied Science
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Reconciling Abstract Structure and Concrete Data in Statistical Natural-Language Processing
Engineering and Applied Science
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