Queer in AI events at EMNLP 2021

This EMNLP, the Queer in AI activities will be colocated with the Widening NLP Workshop!

Overview & How to Join

Queer in AI D&I guide discussion: 8 am Punta Cana, 12 pm UTC, 11 November (convert into your timezone)
Jasmijn Bastings' keynote talk: 9 am Punta Cana, 1 pm UTC, 11 November (convert into your timezone)

WINLP socials: 12.35 pm Punta Cana, 8.35 pm UTC, 11 November (check WINLP schedule)

You have to be registered for WINLP to attend. Link here.

Reach out to the organizers directly by emailing to winlp-chairs@googlegroups.com.

Queer in AI D&I Guide (Poster session and discussion)

12 pm UTC, 11 November (convert into your timezone). You have to be registered for EMNLP to attend.

Join and discuss best practices to improve queer inclusivity in conferences with Queer in AI organizers. The Queer in AI D&I guide is linked here.

Queer in AI + WiNLP keynote talk

1 pm UTC, 11 November (convert into your timezone). You have to be registered for WINLP to attend. Link here.

Dr. Jasmijn Bastings: The Very Hungry Caterpillar 🐛 and The Wish for a Wider and More Dynamic NLP

Jasmijn Bastings is a researcher at Google Research Amsterdam. Her research spans natural language processing, machine learning, and explainable AI. Recently, she has been focusing on making NLP more fair, interpretable and robust. She published works on interpretable neural predictions and saliency methods, and is a co-author of Joey NMT and the Language Interpretability Tool (LIT). Jasmijn holds a PhD from ILLC, University of Amsterdam, where she worked on linguistically-informed neural machine translation, interpretability and generalization.

Abstract: Large, parameterized, end-to-end trained models are the workhorses of today’s NLP research and applications. What could possibly be wrong with them? In my talk I identify one shortcoming—their static nature in an ever-changing world—and connect it to yet another static phenomenon in NLP: the way we disseminate our research. I argue for a more dynamic NLP, both in terms of research and publishing, and that a more dynamic NLP is a wider NLP.

Guidelines to WINLP Attendees

1. Do not share the Zoom link with anyone else. All WiNLP attendees will have access to our Zoom link via our registration email, or via the hosting conference workshop/session page. No one who is not either a WiNLP registree nor a hosting conference attendee should attend. Making the link public, in any way, opens you up to Zoom-bombing and other malicious activity by outside trolls.

2. Please ensure your Zoom name matches your registration. This helps chairs or volunteers easily catch non-registered attendees.

3. Ask us for help if you need it. Should you encounter disruptive behavior by an attendee, there are several steps you can take. Please keep in mind the following:

   1. For panels, a WiNLP chair or volunteer will be present in the Zoom session. You may post a note in the Zoom chat requesting assistance. (If you feel uncomfortable with the chat message being seen by all participants, you may use the private message function.) You can also call a WiNLP volunteer or chair by putting a note requesting assistance with a link to your Zoom room in the WiNLP Slack channel #incidents. If the host conference has a RocketChat, you can likewise call a conference volunteer by putting a note in the RocketChat #incidents channel. (Precise channel name per hosting conference to be determined and communicated prior to each event.) The volunteers, on arrival, will have co-host permissions in the Zoom room.

   2. If you are not comfortable taking these actions yourself, you can call on a WiNLP chair or conference volunteer to assist.

   3. These are only for cases of disruptive behavior, and are not to be used, for example, merely in case of scientific disagreement.

   4. Any author or volunteer who finds it necessary to deploy one of these ‘silencing’ options should report that fact to the WiNLP chairs, immediately upon the conclusion of the session, via Slack or email (winlp-chairs@googlegroups.com). You can and should also report the incident to the hosting conference’s PCC co-chairs, but if you do not feel comfortable doing so directly, the WiNLP chairs will help funnel that reporting.