To Build Our Future, We Must Know Our Past: Contextualizing Paradigm Shifts in Natural Language Processing

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gururaja, Sireesh, Bertsch, Amanda, Na, Clara, Widder, David Gray, Strubell, Emma
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Gururaja, Sireesh
Bertsch, Amanda
Na, Clara
Widder, David Gray
Strubell, Emma
author_facet Gururaja, Sireesh
Bertsch, Amanda
Na, Clara
Widder, David Gray
Strubell, Emma
contents NLP is in a period of disruptive change that is impacting our methodologies, funding sources, and public perception. In this work, we seek to understand how to shape our future by better understanding our past. We study factors that shape NLP as a field, including culture, incentives, and infrastructure by conducting long-form interviews with 26 NLP researchers of varying seniority, research area, institution, and social identity. Our interviewees identify cyclical patterns in the field, as well as new shifts without historical parallel, including changes in benchmark culture and software infrastructure. We complement this discussion with quantitative analysis of citation, authorship, and language use in the ACL Anthology over time. We conclude by discussing shared visions, concerns, and hopes for the future of NLP. We hope that this study of our field's past and present can prompt informed discussion of our community's implicit norms and more deliberate action to consciously shape the future.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_07715
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle To Build Our Future, We Must Know Our Past: Contextualizing Paradigm Shifts in Natural Language Processing
Gururaja, Sireesh
Bertsch, Amanda
Na, Clara
Widder, David Gray
Strubell, Emma
Computation and Language
Computers and Society
NLP is in a period of disruptive change that is impacting our methodologies, funding sources, and public perception. In this work, we seek to understand how to shape our future by better understanding our past. We study factors that shape NLP as a field, including culture, incentives, and infrastructure by conducting long-form interviews with 26 NLP researchers of varying seniority, research area, institution, and social identity. Our interviewees identify cyclical patterns in the field, as well as new shifts without historical parallel, including changes in benchmark culture and software infrastructure. We complement this discussion with quantitative analysis of citation, authorship, and language use in the ACL Anthology over time. We conclude by discussing shared visions, concerns, and hopes for the future of NLP. We hope that this study of our field's past and present can prompt informed discussion of our community's implicit norms and more deliberate action to consciously shape the future.
title To Build Our Future, We Must Know Our Past: Contextualizing Paradigm Shifts in Natural Language Processing
topic Computation and Language
Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.07715