There are few better ways of spending an hour than doing so listening to Professor Emily Bender, University of Waashington, taking about language models in a virtual presentation hosted by the Alan Turing Institute on 8 July 2021. The main topics in this excellent lecture (content, presentation and discussion) were
- Are ever larger language models (LM) inevitable or necessary
- What costs are associated with this research direction and what should we consider before pursing it?
- Do the field of natural language processing or the public that it serves in fact need larger LMs?
- If so, how can we pursue this research direction while mitigating its associated risks?
- If not, what do we need instead?
Well worth a couple of cups (or glasses) of your favourite drink.