We develop computational models of human language. Our work ranges from basic research on algorithms and machine learning to applied research in language technology.
25/09/2023 — We are currently hiring 1–3 PhD students for research on large language models!
Research
The current focus of our research is on the analysis and enhancement of neural language models. We are working on methods for extending these models with non-linguistic signals such as images and videos, and on the application of neural language models to information extraction. In addition to this, we have a long-standing interest in work on the intersection of natural language processing and theoretical computer science.
Current Projects
STING: Synthesis and analysis with Transducers and Invertible Neural Generators
Human communication is multimodal and occurs through speech, language, gesture, facial expression, and similar signals. To enable natural interactions with human beings, artificial agents must be capable of analysing and producing these rich and interdependent signals and connecting them to their semantic implications. STING aims to unify synthesis and analysis through transducers and invertible neural models, connecting concrete, continuous-valued sensory data such as images, sound, and motion, with high-level, predominantly discrete representations of meaning. The project has the potential to endow synthesis output with human-understandable high-level explanations while simultaneously improving the ability to attach probabilities to semantic representations.
Funded by WASP
A Practical Theory of Computation for Modern Neural Network Architectures
Today, neural networks are the most important computational paradigm for AI and machine learning. While their computational power has been studied for decades, the theoretical development has not been able to keep up with the recent upshot of new neural architectures, such as the Transformer. Also, existing theoretical results are of limited practical value because they often apply to monolithic architectures, whereas applications typically use networks composed of re-usable components. Moreover, theoretical results tend to make idealising assumptions such as infinite precision or unlimited training time rather than acknowledging that such commodities are in short supply and should thus be treated as parameters of expressive power. In this project, we want to address these shortcomings and develop a practical theory of computation for modern neural network architectures. The project combines methods from theoretical computer science – especially the theory of computation and formal languages – with empirical validation in natural language processing (NLP).
Funded by WASP
Interpreting and Grounding Pre-Trained Representations for Natural Language Processing
Building computers that understand human language is one of the central goals of artificial intelligence. A recent breakthrough on the way towards this goal is the development of neural models that learn deep contextualized representations of language. However, while these models have substantially advanced the state of the art in natural language processing (NLP), our understanding of the learned representations and our repertoire of techniques for integrating them with other knowledge representations and reasoning facilities remain severely limited. To address these gaps, we will develop new methods for interpreting, grounding, and integrating deep contextualized representations of language and evaluate the usefulness of these methods in the context of threat intelligence applications together with our industrial partner.
Funded by WASP
Selected Recent Publications
- Ehsan Doostmohammadi, Tobias Norlund, Marco Kuhlmann, and Richard Johansson. 2023. Surface-Based Retrieval Reduces Perplexity of Retrieval-Augmented Language Models. In Proceedings of the 61st Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 2: Short Papers), pages 521–529, Toronto, Canada. Association for Computational Linguistics.
- Tobias Norlund, Ehsan Doostmohammadi, Richard Johansson, and Marco Kuhlmann. 2023. On the Generalization Ability of Retrieval-Enhanced Transformers. In Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EACL 2023, pages 1485–1493, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Association for Computational Linguistics.
- Jenny Kunz, Martin Jirenius, Oskar Holmström, and Marco Kuhlmann. 2022. Human Ratings Do Not Reflect Downstream Utility: A Study of Free-Text Explanations for Model Predictions. In Proceedings of the Fifth BlackboxNLP Workshop on Analyzing and Interpreting Neural Networks for NLP, pages 164–177, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Hybrid). Association for Computational Linguistics.
Teaching
Our teaching portfolio comprises courses and degree projects in natural language processing and text mining at the basic, advanced, and doctoral levels. We are committed to excellence in teaching through effective pedagogy that fosters relevant knowledge and skills and stimulate students to drive their own learning process.
Current Courses
AI for Natural Language (Bachelor)
Writing computer programs that understand and produce human language is a central goal of artificial intelligence. This course aims to provide an understanding of how far we are from this goal: what is and what is not possible today. Students will learn about current methods in natural language processing, about what resources are required to build language technology systems, and about how one can assess the quality of these methods and systems.
Language Technology (Bachelor)
Language technology – technology for the analysis and interpretation of natural language – forms a key component of smart search engines, personal digital assistants, and many other innovative applications. The goal of this course is to give an introduction to language technology as an application area, as well as to its basic methods. The course focuses on methods that process text.
Natural Language Processing (Master)
Natural Language Processing (NLP) develops methods for making human language accessible to computers. This course aims to provide students with a theoretical understanding of and practical experience with the advanced algorithms that power modern NLP. The course focuses on methods based on deep neural networks.
Text Mining (Master)
Text Mining is about distilling actionable insights from text. The overall aim of this course is to provide students with practical experience of the main steps of text mining: information retrieval, processing of text data, modelling, analysis of experimental results. The course ends with an individual project where students work on a self-defined problem.
Deep Learning for NLP (PhD)
Natural Language Processing (NLP) develops methods for making human language accessible to computers. The goal of this course is to provide students with a theoretical understanding of and practical experience with the advanced algorithms that power modern NLP. The course focuses on methods based on deep neural networks.
This course is given in the context of the WASP Graduate School.
Open Thesis Proposals
No open thesis proposals at this time.
Team
Professor, Group Lead
Associate Professor
PhD Student
PhD Student
PhD Student
PhD Student