What Do Large Language Models Tell Us About Human Language?

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About the Symposium:

Three big claims have dominated the last half century of thinking in cognitive science about language. First, language relies on a system of abstract syntactic rules and principles. Second, these rules and principles are too complex to be learned by children without an innate linguistic faculty. Third, developing competence in language requires social interaction grounded in the real world. The last few years have seen the advent of large language models, neural networks that learn to produce fluent language “from scratch”, trained on data from the internet. Do large language models force us to reconsider any of these big claims, and if so, how should we revise our understanding of language? The 2025 Weinberg Symposium features three world-leading experts who will discuss and debate these questions.

Schedule:

1:00 – 1:10 PM | Opening Remarks
1:10 – 2:00 PM | Jordan Kodner
2:05 – 2:55 PM | Richard Futrell
3:00 – 3:50 PM | Ellie Pavlick
4:00-5:00 | Panel Discussion
5:00-6:00 | Poster Session and Reception