AI's Language Leap: MIT CSAIL Associate Professor Jacob Andreas Explores NLP and LLMs

For a full, uncut video version of this show (shot in Professor
Andreas' MIT CSAIL office!), watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBV5Bj_NnbA MIT CSAIL Associate
Professor Jacob Andreas walks listeners through how LLMs like
ChatGPT evolved from academic curiosities to industry-disrupting
technologies. Reflecting on the transformations he has observed in
AI research, Professor Andreas discusses how some ideas—like
linking NLP research to cognitive science—have taken a backseat,
while others—like the importance of large-scale training
data—remain central. He offers insights on AI use cases, the
emergence of models like DeepSeek, and the critical role of human
oversight in AI deployment. Acknowledging both the excitement and
concerns surrounding AI, Professor Andreas believes that educators
and industry alike face a challenge in keeping pace with the
‘moving target’ of AI progress. Plus: learn how AI can be used to
decode the language of sperm whales! About the guest: Professor
Andreas is an MIT EECS Associate Professor and CSAIL PI. Before
joining MIT, he earned his PhD at Berkeley. His group's research
focuses on three themes: building machine learning models that
learn language in human-like ways, enabling the use of language as
a general-purpose tool for building intelligent systems, and
developing techniques for understanding machine learning models
using language. His group envisions a future built around training,
explaining, and interacting with intelligent systems for users of
all the world's languages. Learn more about Professor Jacob Andreas
and his research here: https://www.mit.edu/~jda/ Want to know more
about Professor Andreas' work on the language of sperm whales? Read
here:
https://news.mit.edu/2024/csail-ceti-explores-sperm-whale-alphabet-0507
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