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Main Author: Wilson, Shomir
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10559
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author Wilson, Shomir
author_facet Wilson, Shomir
contents Recent developments in large language models (LLMs) have been accompanied by rapidly growing public interest in natural language processing (NLP). This attention is reflected by major news venues, which sometimes invite NLP researchers to share their knowledge and views with a wide audience. Recognizing the opportunities of the present, for both the research field and for individual researchers, this paper shares recommendations for communicating with a general audience about the capabilities and limitations of NLP. These recommendations cover three themes: vague terminology as an obstacle to public understanding, unreasonable expectations as obstacles to sustainable growth, and ethical failures as obstacles to continued support. Published NLP research and popular news coverage are cited to illustrate these themes with examples. The recommendations promote effective, transparent communication with the general public about NLP, in order to strengthen public understanding and encourage support for research.
format Preprint
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publishDate 2025
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spellingShingle NLP Meets the World: Toward Improving Conversations With the Public About Natural Language Processing Research
Wilson, Shomir
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Computation and Language
Recent developments in large language models (LLMs) have been accompanied by rapidly growing public interest in natural language processing (NLP). This attention is reflected by major news venues, which sometimes invite NLP researchers to share their knowledge and views with a wide audience. Recognizing the opportunities of the present, for both the research field and for individual researchers, this paper shares recommendations for communicating with a general audience about the capabilities and limitations of NLP. These recommendations cover three themes: vague terminology as an obstacle to public understanding, unreasonable expectations as obstacles to sustainable growth, and ethical failures as obstacles to continued support. Published NLP research and popular news coverage are cited to illustrate these themes with examples. The recommendations promote effective, transparent communication with the general public about NLP, in order to strengthen public understanding and encourage support for research.
title NLP Meets the World: Toward Improving Conversations With the Public About Natural Language Processing Research
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10559