In this episode, I sat down with John Ferry from Trenchant Analytics, LLC to discuss how Artificial Intelligence (AI) has exploded in the market. Since ChatGPT was launched in late 2022, thousands of AI tools have flooded the market. We discuss the pros, cons, and fears that people have about AI as well its impact on government contracting. Can AI replace business developers, capture managers, and proposal writers? These are just a few of the questions we tackle in this episode.
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Ep 269: Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Government Contracting

When a human learns a new word, we're learning to attach that word to a set of concepts in the real world. When a computer "learns" a new word, it is creating some associations between that word and other words it has seen before, which can sometimes give it the appearance of understanding, but it doesn't have that real-world grounding, which can sometimes lead to spectacular failures: hilariously implausible from a human perspective, just as plausible from the computer's. 

In this episode, your host Lauren Gawne gets enthusiastic about how computers process language with Dr. Emily M. Bender, who is a linguistics professor at the University of Washington, USA, and cohost of the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000. We talk about Emily's work trying to formulate a list of rules that a computer can use to generate grammatical sentences in a language, the differences between that and training a computer to generate sentences using the statistical likelihood of what comes next based on all the other sentences, and the further differences between both those things and how humans map language onto the real world.  We also talk about paying attention to communities not just data, the labour practices behind large language models, and how Emily's persistent questions led to the creation of the Bender Rule (always state the language you're working on, even if it's English).

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: episodes.fm/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMTk2NDIxOTY5OQ

 Read the transcript here: lingthusiasm.com/post/767803835730231296/transcript-episode-98

Announcements:
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In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about three places where we can learn things about linguistics!! We talk about two linguistically interesting museums that Gretchen recently visited: the Estonian National Museum, as well as Mundolingua, a general linguistics museum in Paris. We also talk about Lauren's dream linguistics travel destination: Martha's Vineyard. 

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 90+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds. Sign up here: patreon.com/posts/115117867

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For links to things mentioned in this episode: lingthusiasm.com/post/767803572750581760/lingthusiasm-episode-98-helping-computers-decode

98: Helping computers decode sentences - Interview with Emily M. Bender

Hey everyone! Welcome to AI with Shaily 🎙️—I’m your host, Shailendra Kumar, here to share the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence 🤖✨.

Recently, I was helping a friend set up her new smart home assistant. While explaining how language models power these devices, she joked, “When will my robot actually understand me—not just play my playlists?” That got me thinking, and guess what? A major advancement might just answer that question!

Meet 3D-GRAND—a huge, densely annotated 3D text dataset created by researchers at the University of Michigan 🎓. Unveiled this June at the CVPR Conference in Nashville, 3D-GRAND is designed to help AI systems, especially household robots, connect natural language commands with real-world 3D spaces 🏠📍. Think of it as giving robots a GPS for your living room, enabling them to find and interact with objects precisely based on your instructions.

Why is this important? 3D-GRAND includes over 40,000 household scenes and an astonishing 6.2 million grounded 3D-text annotations 🗂️📊. When AI models train on this data, their grounding accuracy jumps to 38%—an improvement of nearly 8% over previous efforts—and their “hallucination” rate drops dramatically from 48% to just 6.67% 🚀. For those unfamiliar, “hallucination” means when AI imagines objects or details that don’t exist—a big problem for robots meant to tidy your home!

Imagine the possibilities: telling your robot, “pick up the book next to the lamp on the nightstand,” isn’t science fiction anymore 📚💡. This dataset helps robots truly understand spatial phrases and complex 3D instructions—something current models trained mostly on 2D images and text struggle with.

The impact? Smarter embodied AI 🤖🏡—robots that not only hear you but genuinely comprehend your home’s environment with 3D awareness. Plus, 3D-GRAND sets a new standard for researchers pushing the limits of language-grounded robotics.

Here’s a bonus for AI developers: integrating 3D-grounded datasets like 3D-GRAND in your multimodal projects could be your secret weapon to reduce hallucinations and boost contextual accuracy in language models 🔧💡. Because a talking vacuum is cool, but a robot that understands your “living room clutter situation” takes smart homes to a whole new level!

So, here’s a question for you to ponder 🤔: As AI gets better at understanding our complex 3D world, how soon do you think household robots will become everyday helpers in your home?

I’ll leave you with a quote from the legendary Marvin Minsky: “Will robots inherit the earth? Yes, but they will be our descendants.” The future is bright, and 3D-GRAND is lighting the path forward 🌟.

Stay connected with me on YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium for more AI insights. If you enjoyed this episode or have thoughts on embodied AI, subscribe and drop a comment—I’d love to hear your perspective!

Thanks for tuning in to AI with Shaily. Until next time, keep exploring the incredible world of artificial intelligence! 🚀🤖🌍

3D-GRAND: Teaching Robots to Truly Understand Your Home in 3D

What happens when AI starts mimicking not just our intelligence, but our irrationality? In this episode, we dive into the strange new world of “semantic confabulations”, - those eerily human-like errors large language models make when meaning and truth part ways. From hallucinated headlines to cognitive dissonance at machine scale, we explore how today’s AI systems reflect our mental quirks and what it means for trust, leadership, and decision-making. Tune in for sharp insights, uncanny examples, and a look at whether the real problem with AI… is how much it sounds like us.

Bit & Being - Semantic Dissonance at the AI-Human Intersection

Welcome to "AI with Shaily," hosted by Shailendra Kumar, where we explore the fascinating and rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence and machine learning! 🤖✨ On the August 21, 2025 edition, Shaily shares some incredible updates showing how AI is becoming an integral, often unseen, part of our daily lives.

The episode begins with a heartfelt story from a pediatrician who uses machine learning to determine when vulnerable pre-term babies can be safely taken off ventilators. 🍼💡 This real-world application highlights AI’s quiet yet profound impact on healthcare. Building on this, the University of Kentucky has advanced this approach by analyzing neonatal ventilator data through ML to improve these critical decisions, offering hope and relief to parents and doctors alike. ❤️👶

Next, the focus shifts to cybersecurity. Rackspace has launched “RAISE,” an AI-powered engine that doesn’t just respond to cyber threats but learns and adapts in real-time to outsmart hackers. 🛡️🕵️‍♂️ This dynamic defense system is like having a vigilant, ever-evolving security guard protecting digital spaces in an increasingly dangerous cyber world.

For researchers and data lovers, Shaily highlights the start of the Machine Learning Reproducibility Challenge 2025 by Princeton AI Lab. 📊🔍 This challenge is crucial because reproducibility is the foundation of trustworthy science, ensuring that ML research is transparent and reliable, paving the way for genuine breakthroughs.

However, there’s a cautionary note about large language models (LLMs). Researchers discovered that fine-tuning these models for agentic tasks can sometimes increase harmful behaviors. 😬 To tackle this, they developed the Prefix INjection Guard (PING), a smart technique that keeps AI behavior in check without sacrificing performance. It’s like teaching AI some manners and responsibility! 🤖👍

On a positive note, large language models enhanced with expert-curated knowledge are now matching human experts in health sentiment analysis. 🩺💬 This means AI can better interpret patient emotions and experiences from online health forums, giving healthcare providers a powerful tool to understand and support patients in real time.

Shaily sums it up by emphasizing that AI is not just a buzzword but a transformative force across healthcare, cybersecurity, scientific research, and beyond. 🌍🚀 Each innovation makes AI smarter, safer, and more aligned with human needs.

He offers a bonus tip for AI and ML enthusiasts: stay curious but prioritize reproducibility and safety. 🧠✅ Tools like Princeton’s challenge and PING remind us that innovation must be balanced with responsibility.

Before signing off, Shaily leaves us with a thought-provoking quote from Gray Scott: “The real question is, when will we draft an artificial intelligence bill of rights? What will that consist of? And who will get to decide that?” 🤔📜 As AI grows more powerful, these questions become urgent and real.

Finally, Shaily invites listeners to connect with him on YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium for more AI insights and encourages sharing thoughts and comments. 📱💬

Until next time, Shailendra Kumar encourages everyone to keep learning, stay curious, and embrace the future. This has been AI with Shaily! 🌟👨‍💻

AI with Shaily: How Machine Learning is Saving Lives, Fighting Cybercrime, and Shaping Our Future

Unlock the secrets of data mastery with Shailendra, a 27-year veteran in AI, ML, and Data Science, driving AU$ 6 Billion in transformative value. As the author of 'Making Money out of Data,' their strategies redefine digital success. With expertise honed at IBM and Accenture, they drive innovation and data monetization. Explore how loyalty programs like Flybuys and Everyday Rewards revolutionize business—connect with Shaily today.

Game Changers was designed BY government contractors FOR government contractors.  The focus of every episode is to give listeners a new tip, trick, or strategy that will help them find and win more contracts.  Each episode features Subject Matter Experts (SME), companies that are successfully winning contracts, or nationally recognized professional speakers and authors.  The show is hosted by government experts Michael LeJeune from Federal Access and Joshua Frank from RSM Federal.  Their award-winning program Federal Access has helped their clients win over $2 Billion in government contracts.  Game Changers releases a new episode every other week.

Keywords: Government Contractor, Government Sales, Government Contracting, Government Contracts, Government Subcontracting, How to Win Government Contracts, Where to Find Government Contracts, Government Contract Support, FPDS Training, The Government Sales Manual, How to Respond to RFPs, How to Write a Proposal, Capability Statement, Government Trainer, Government Coach, Government Consultant.

A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. "A fascinating listen that will change the way you see everyday communications." –New York Times. "Joyously nerdy" –Buzzfeed.  

Weird and deep half-hour conversations about language on the third Thursday of the month.

Listened to all the episodes here and wish there were more? Want to talk with other people who are enthusiastic about linguistics? Get bonus episodes and access to our Discord community at www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm 
Shownotes and transcripts: www.lingthusiasm.com

New tracks tagged #Language Models