Inaugural Lectures: Will Lamb In brief Date - 4 December 2024Venue - Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George SquareSpeaker - Professor Will Lamb (Personal Chair of Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics)Title - Could Artificial Intelligence save Scottish Gaelic?Series - Inaugural Lectures at the University of Edinburgh Book your free ticket on Eventbrite About the lectureThe future is uncertain for Gaelic and most of the world’s minority languages. Could cutting-edge language technologies be the key to their survival? English speakers can now hold real-time spoken conversations with apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. What breakthroughs are needed to get us to that point for Gaelic? How might such a transformation affect language revitalisation efforts, for better and for worse?This lecture introduces modern language technology to a general audience, showcasing ongoing research involving Gaelic at the University of Edinburgh. It then addresses tensions in collaborations between big tech and minority language communities, such as navigating data ownership and cultural preservation. Finally, it looks ahead, considering how AI might help revitalise not just Gaelic, but other minority languages.About the speakerWill Lamb was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed a degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1993 and spent two years as an RA on a Johns Hopkins led research project on sleep disorders and biometrics. In 1995, after taking an interest in Gaelic and traditional music, he went to Nova Scotia and spent an academic year at St Francis Xavier University.Will began his postgraduate study at the University of Edinburgh in 1996, taking an MSc in Celtic Studies. His dissertation was on the development of the Gaelic news register and was supervised by Rob Ó Maolalaigh. He started a PhD in Linguistics the following year. In Jan 2000, nearing the end of his PhD, he moved to North Uist to take up a lecturing position at Lews Castle College Benbecula (University of the Highlands and Islands). He is credited with initiating the successful music programme at Lews Castle College. Will finished his PhD in 2002, and it was published in 2008 as 'Scottish Gaelic Speech and Writing: Register Variation in an Endangered Language'.Will was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017 and to Personal Chair in Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics in 2022. His research interests span music, linguistics, traditional narrative and language technology. He is known, in particular, for his work on formulaic language, traditional music, Gaelic grammatical description and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Most of his recent work has been in Gaelic NLP, and he recently finished an MSc in Speech and Language Processing (University of Edinburgh).Read Will's full profile on the University websiteHow to attendThis lecture is a free, in-person event held on the University of Edinburgh campus. It is open to all.The event will not be live streamed - tickets (bookable via Eventbrite) are for access to the venue. However, the lecture may be photographed and/or recorded and added to the University website afterwards. If you would prefer not to appear in any recordings, please contact us in advance or speak to us on the day. It's not a problem. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite About Inaugural LecturesInaugural Lectures are free public talks by recently-appointed Professors and Chairs at the University of Edinburgh where they share their work with a wide audience, inviting reflection and discussion on its broader implications.Browse more Inaugural Lectures on the University of Edinburgh websiteAre you interested in English Literature at Edinburgh?We offer a wide range of undergraduate programmes, taught masters, and research degrees, including a Masters by Research and a PhD. As an undergraduate, you will read works of literature written in English from around the world, and encounter a range of ideas about the nature and purpose of literary study. Our courses explore the relationship between literary texts and the construction of national, international and imperial cultures. Working with colleagues in LLC and across the wider University, we are able to support postgraduate research which crosses boundaries between languages and disciplines. Find out more about English Literature at Edinburgh Dec 04 2024 17.15 - 18.30 Inaugural Lectures: Will Lamb Join us for 'Could Artificial Intelligence save Scottish Gaelic?', an Inaugural Lecture celebrating the appointment of Will Lamb as Personal Chair of Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics. Lecture Theatre G.03 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue: 50 George Square Book your free ticket on Eventbrite
Inaugural Lectures: Will Lamb In brief Date - 4 December 2024Venue - Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George SquareSpeaker - Professor Will Lamb (Personal Chair of Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics)Title - Could Artificial Intelligence save Scottish Gaelic?Series - Inaugural Lectures at the University of Edinburgh Book your free ticket on Eventbrite About the lectureThe future is uncertain for Gaelic and most of the world’s minority languages. Could cutting-edge language technologies be the key to their survival? English speakers can now hold real-time spoken conversations with apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. What breakthroughs are needed to get us to that point for Gaelic? How might such a transformation affect language revitalisation efforts, for better and for worse?This lecture introduces modern language technology to a general audience, showcasing ongoing research involving Gaelic at the University of Edinburgh. It then addresses tensions in collaborations between big tech and minority language communities, such as navigating data ownership and cultural preservation. Finally, it looks ahead, considering how AI might help revitalise not just Gaelic, but other minority languages.About the speakerWill Lamb was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed a degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1993 and spent two years as an RA on a Johns Hopkins led research project on sleep disorders and biometrics. In 1995, after taking an interest in Gaelic and traditional music, he went to Nova Scotia and spent an academic year at St Francis Xavier University.Will began his postgraduate study at the University of Edinburgh in 1996, taking an MSc in Celtic Studies. His dissertation was on the development of the Gaelic news register and was supervised by Rob Ó Maolalaigh. He started a PhD in Linguistics the following year. In Jan 2000, nearing the end of his PhD, he moved to North Uist to take up a lecturing position at Lews Castle College Benbecula (University of the Highlands and Islands). He is credited with initiating the successful music programme at Lews Castle College. Will finished his PhD in 2002, and it was published in 2008 as 'Scottish Gaelic Speech and Writing: Register Variation in an Endangered Language'.Will was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017 and to Personal Chair in Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics in 2022. His research interests span music, linguistics, traditional narrative and language technology. He is known, in particular, for his work on formulaic language, traditional music, Gaelic grammatical description and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Most of his recent work has been in Gaelic NLP, and he recently finished an MSc in Speech and Language Processing (University of Edinburgh).Read Will's full profile on the University websiteHow to attendThis lecture is a free, in-person event held on the University of Edinburgh campus. It is open to all.The event will not be live streamed - tickets (bookable via Eventbrite) are for access to the venue. However, the lecture may be photographed and/or recorded and added to the University website afterwards. If you would prefer not to appear in any recordings, please contact us in advance or speak to us on the day. It's not a problem. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite About Inaugural LecturesInaugural Lectures are free public talks by recently-appointed Professors and Chairs at the University of Edinburgh where they share their work with a wide audience, inviting reflection and discussion on its broader implications.Browse more Inaugural Lectures on the University of Edinburgh websiteAre you interested in English Literature at Edinburgh?We offer a wide range of undergraduate programmes, taught masters, and research degrees, including a Masters by Research and a PhD. As an undergraduate, you will read works of literature written in English from around the world, and encounter a range of ideas about the nature and purpose of literary study. Our courses explore the relationship between literary texts and the construction of national, international and imperial cultures. Working with colleagues in LLC and across the wider University, we are able to support postgraduate research which crosses boundaries between languages and disciplines. Find out more about English Literature at Edinburgh Dec 04 2024 17.15 - 18.30 Inaugural Lectures: Will Lamb Join us for 'Could Artificial Intelligence save Scottish Gaelic?', an Inaugural Lecture celebrating the appointment of Will Lamb as Personal Chair of Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics. Lecture Theatre G.03 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue: 50 George Square Book your free ticket on Eventbrite
Dec 04 2024 17.15 - 18.30 Inaugural Lectures: Will Lamb Join us for 'Could Artificial Intelligence save Scottish Gaelic?', an Inaugural Lecture celebrating the appointment of Will Lamb as Personal Chair of Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics.
