Episode 70: Using Psychology to Help Machines Better Understand Our Words

In the not too distant future, talking machines will become a part of our everyday life. After all, we’re already talking to Siri, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa. Before we know it, those conversations will extend to other things too. Of course, in order for people to really trust machines, there needs to be a clear level of understanding. You need to know that the machine isn’t simply just registering the words that you’re saying, but rather that it actually understands the meaning and intent behind them. In this episode of the Impact Podcast, Jon Prial talks with Asfaneh Fazley, the Director of Research at Thompson Reuters and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto. Asfaneh’s area of expertise is at the intersection of psychology, communication and technology. Find out how to apply basic psychology to natural language processing (NLP) systems to help ensure that they are able to correctly interpret the true meaning of our words and sentences. You’ll hear about: - How computers try to understand the meaning of words - The role of psychology in NLP and NLU - How language differs in different contexts Access the show notes here: http://bit.ly/2BWrQbK