The New and Exciting Field of Computational Linguistics
Note: This story was written by Holly Zbierski
When people picture the future of technology, the image of a robot communicating seamlessly with humans often comes to mind. This is exactly what the field of computational linguistics is bringing the world closer to. (Don’t worry about robot apocalypses just yet, remember robots will only do what humans program them to!)
Think of it this way: all voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant need to be programmed to understand the human language and translate it into terms it can understand to carry out its prescribed tasks. Computational linguistics seeks to advance the capabilities of these devices so that we as humans do not have to choose our words so carefully when talking to our phones, tablets, or TV remotes. Consider the precarious way we have to speak to send texts by voice or search for something on our TV; one day, we will be able to speak as we normally do to computers and they will understand every word, but the technology is not quite there yet. The way these devices respond to our commands clearly needs improvement regarding their intonation and vernacular. As of now, they sound, well… robotic, but with the advances being made in computational linguistics, communication with devices will become much more natural someday soon. Additionally, computational linguists can apply their skills to voice recognition, translation, automated text analysis, search engines, and various other innovative technologies.
Application of Computational Linguistics Increases Accessibility 🗪
Although many people may merely think of voice assistants and other assistive technologies as alternative ways to conduct a web search, send a text, or turn lights on/off (using smart home technology), their applications are actually incredibly important to people who are disabled and may rely on these technologies to use their phones, computers, smart watches, and other devices. Applying speech and language processing techniques to assistive technology enables individuals with disabilities to perform tasks that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible to do, in cases where a person’s disability impacts their abilities to communicate.
Current research within computational linguistics will contribute to the increased accessibility of technology. It has certainly come a long way over the past few decades, but there are always ways to improve! Technology should never be exclusive for just one group, so it is absolutely necessary that tech companies place making their products accessible to all at the forefront of their goals — not just as an afterthought.
Degrees and Careers in Computational Linguistics 💼
Computational linguistics encompasses natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI), which all consistently rank among the fastest-growing fields of computer science. Much of the technology being developed right now will require a significant amount of computational linguistics work in order for it to be completed, so degrees pertaining to this area of specialty are becoming a smart option for undergraduates interested in the fields of computer science and linguistics.
From personal experience, a quick Google search of colleges and universities that offer computational linguistics as a major does not return many results, at least for undergraduate degrees; masters programs in this subject are much easier to come by. However, there are a few that proudly offer it to undergrads, wisely paying attention to the upwards trend in technology that is surely here to stay. Among those include Dartmouth College, Indiana University Bloomington, Stanford University, and University of Southern California. Schools that offer combined majors in computer science and linguistics with almost identical curricula are Boston University, Duke University, Northeastern University, University of Illinois Chicago and Urbana-Champaign. There are other colleges and universities as well that offer computer science degrees with concentrations in linguistics or computational linguistics, and the reverse, linguistics degrees with concentrations in computer science or computational linguistics. Yet another option for interested students would be majoring in one of the disciplines and minoring in the other, if one is a bigger passion, or even simply double-majoring if possible. Clearly there are many, many routes to get an education in the foundations of computational linguistics, and an increasing number of reputable institutions at which to acquire this education.
Once an undergraduate and/or masters degree in the field is acquired, job opportunities relating to computational linguistics will be abundant due to its broad and varied applications. Career paths span from NLP to machine learning to AI, and far beyond. More specifically, graduates can find themselves as AI engineers, data scientists, language engineers, machine learning engineers, NLP engineers, NLP scientists, research scientists, robotics scientists, computer analysts, or even just simply linguists. All of the top tech companies will be seeking experts in this field to fill these roles. Simply put, the job opportunities for those with skills in computational linguistics are nearly endless. From more computer science-focused jobs to ones that prioritize the linguistics side of things, there’s a perfect job out there waiting for every computational linguistics graduate.
Takeaway 🤖
With each new computational linguist, the world comes closer to realizing the dream of seamless communication with robots and complete accessibility of technology to people with disabilities. What was once something of the future is now within reach thanks to the field of computational linguistics.
Sources 📢:
Introductory/General Information:
https://trinity.duke.edu/news/lincscslin-major-opens-new-pathways
Accessibility Information and Research Used or Referenced:
https://www.isca-speech.org/iscaweb/index.php/sigs?layout=edit&id=127
Career Information and Positions:
https://study.com/articles/computational_linguistics_major_programs.html