Hey Siri: The Unwritten Grammar of Voice Commands
Have you ever noticed you talk to Siri differently than you talk to a person? We've developed a unique "Machine Speak"—a stripped-down, command-based language that reveals a lot about our…
Tag: human-computer interaction
Teaching AI Emotion: The Linguistics of Sentiment Analysis
How do we teach a machine to understand sarcasm or the subtle disappointment in a 'fine' review? This exploration delves into the linguistics of sentiment analysis, revealing how programmers and…
The ELIZA Effect: Why We Talk to Chatbots Like They’re Human
Have you ever found yourself saying "please" and "thank you" to a chatbot or voice assistant? This is the ELIZA effect, our tendency to unconsciously attribute human-like intelligence and empathy…
Building Languages for Machines: The Linguistic Principles Behind Programming Languages
We think of Python or Java as "computer languages," but they are fundamentally constructed languages built on core linguistic principles. This article explores the hidden grammar of code, from the…
The Ghost in the Machine: How Linguists Teach Computers to Understand Ambiguity
Ever wonder how your phone knows you mean the band Queen, not a monarch? This post explores the linguistic challenge of ambiguity and the clever statistical methods, like n-grams and…