Machines show an increasingly broad set of linguistic competencies, thanks to recent progress in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Many algorithms stem from past computational work in psychology, raising the question of whether they understand words as people do . In this paper , we compare how humans and machines represent the meaning of words. We argue that contemporary NLP systems are promising models of human word similarity, but they fall short in many other respects. Current models are too strongly linked to the text-based patterns in large corpora, and too weakly linked to the desires, goals, and beliefs that people express through words. Word meanings must also be grounded in vision and action , and capable of flexible combinations in ways that current systems are not. We pose concrete challenges for developing machines with a more human-like, conceptual basis for word meaning . We also discuss implications for cognitive science and NLP .
Machines have achieved a broad and growing set of linguistic competencies, thanks to recent progress in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Psychologists have shown increasing interest in such models, comparing their output to psychological judgments such as similarity, association, priming, and comprehension, raising the question of whether the models could serve as psychological theories . In this article , we compare how humans and machines represent the meaning of words. We argue that contemporary NLP systems are fairly successful models of human word similarity, but they fall short in many other respects. Current models are too strongly linked to the text-based patterns in large corpora, and too weakly linked to the desires, goals, and beliefs that people express through words. Word meanings must also be grounded in perception and action and be capable of flexible combinations in ways that current systems are not. We discuss more promising approaches to grounding NLP systems and argue that they will be more successful with a more human-like, conceptual basis for word meaning .
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show an increasingly broad
have achieved a broad and growing
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Many algorithms stem from past computational work in psychology,
Psychologists have shown increasing interest in such models, comparing their output to psychological judgments such as similarity, association, priming, and comprehension,
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they understand words as people do
the models could serve as psychological theories
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paper
article
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promising
fairly successful
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vision and action , and
perception and action and be
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pose concrete challenges for developing machines
discuss more promising approaches to grounding NLP systems and argue that they will be more successful
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. We also discuss implications for cognitive science and NLP