LINGUIST List 4.659

Fri 03 Sep 1993

FYI: ARPA's Human Language Technology (HLT) Program

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1. Vicki Fromkin, ARPA

The following is an excerpt from a message forwarded by
rodmanADM.CSC.NCSU.EDU (Dr Robert D Rodman).

This certainly does not represent my view of human language nor that ofi
the linguists I know. I find it deeply troubling that ARPA should
consider the study of language to be other than through basic science.
If others agree with me, what should we do? I am just sending two
paragraphs but will be happy to send the whole megilla to anyone who wishes
to see it.

Vicki Fromkin
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baa9331
Information sent on ARPA's Human Language Technology (HLT) program.

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 The mission of ARPA's human language technology program is
 human language processing competence. Thus the primary
 interest and the focus of evaluation is in language
 processing competence (accuracy), not in system performance
 issues such as speed, memory, cost, etc.

 The HLT program emphasizes R&D effort directed toward
 productive functionality rather than toward basic
 scientific studies. The rationale for this emphasis is that
 human language is a "synthetic" process, a result of social
 evolution, and that it is characterized and measured more
 by cognitive objective rather than by fundamental science
 or scientific understanding.