Current research: Happy's current research focuses on large language models (LLMs), and transformers, understanding their memory, what they remember, how they remember, and how to make them robust and adaptable with a keen interest in low-resource African languages. 

Milestones: Teaching Computers to Understand African Languages Fall 2024

Class Description: The latest entrant in language technology, ChatGPT, has caught the attention of one and all, far above the previous generation of conversational gadgets—Alexa, Siri, or Google Now. While impressive in its capabilities, just a few languages can benefit from these advances. Aside from the economic benefits, language technologies have far-reaching impacts on societies—facilitating the study and preservation of languages, access to and management of history and culture, and facilitating deeper understanding across people through shared communication.

In this cross-disciplinary seminar, students will embark on a journey to understand language technology i.e ChatGPT, Gemini, Llama, etc, and, in particular, its application to the intricacies of the African languages. By examining the evolution of language technology and its limited application to commercially profitable languages, the course will highlight the need for expansion into a wider array of world languages in order to equally provide the cultural and societal benefits that the technology provides. Students will gain an understanding of how language technology impacts daily life through examples like smart devices and virtual agents.