This page is out-dated; please check out the latest information about this event at our new website: https://www.queerinai.com/naacl

About

If not properly studied and implemented, Natural Language Processing (NLP) models pose risk to marginalized communities, such as the queer community; to counterbalance these risks, it is paramount to make sure that queer researchers are included in the study, development, evaluation, and conversation around NLP technologies. Furthermore, Queer in AI’s demographic survey reveals that most queer scientists in our community do not feel completely welcome at conferences and in their work environments, with the main reasons being a lack of a supportive queer community and a lack of queer role models.

Over the past years, Queer in AI has worked towards addressing these critical issues, yet we have observed that the voices of marginalized queer communities – especially transgender, non-binary folks and queer BIPOC folks – have been neglected in this process. The purpose of this workshop is to highlight issues that these communities face by featuring talks and panel discussions on the inclusion of intersectional marginalized identities such as non-Western non-binary identities, as well as Black, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander non-cis folks in natural language processing.

Additionally, at Queer in AI’s socials at NAACL 2022, we will focus on creating a safe and inclusive casual networking and socializing space for queer folks involved with AI. Our goal is to host one in-person social and one virtual social.

Call for Contributions

We are excited to announce our call for contributions for the Queer in AI Workshop at the NAACL 2022 Conference! We are calling for research papers on queer issues in natural language processing and linguistics. In addition, we are also interested in general research done by queer researchers. Accepted works will be linked to our website and invited to present at the NAACL 2022 Conference. The submissions need not be directly related to the themes of the workshop, and they can be works in progress. No submissions will be desk-rejected.

We invite the submissions in the following tracks:

• Queer linguistics: This track invites submissions of studies related to the language around gender and sexuality. For example, the application of ideas from queer theory to language research, or providing an overview of the discursive formation of heteronormativity. Some examples are: trans linguistic activism, queer neomorphemes, strategies for gender-inclusive language reform.

• Queer AI and NLP: This track invites submissions at the intersection between NLP and queerness. Possible themes could be the usage of NLP to analyze queer language or discovering flaws behind NLP methodologies which may harm queer folks. Some examples are: harms regarding non-binary representation in language models, ethical considerations on using gender as a variable or making policies related to AI and gender-diversity.

• Queer activism and D&I: This track invites submissions related to issues with queery inclusivity in NLP events and solutions to increase it. We also invite stories and strategies for queer activism in tech and academia, as well as artifacts and tools to promote queer advocacy. Some examples are: Queer in AI’s guide on conference inclusivity, best practices for inclusive name change policies and analyzing diversity in ecology conferences.

• Research symposia: This track invites submissions by queer folks in the NLP and linguistics community. The topics in this track do not need to be queer-related, however, they should fit within NLP or linguistics. Have a look at the submissions to the ICML 2021 edition of this track.

Submissions

Submission is electronic, using the OpenReview.net platform. All papers must follow the ACL Author Guidelines. All submissions should be anonymized. Please refrain from including personally identifying information in your submission.

All authors with accepted work will have FULL control over how their name appears in public listings of accepted submissions.

Paper submissions must use the official ACL style templates, which are available here (LaTeX and Word). Please follow the general paper formatting guidelines for “*ACL” conferences available here. Authors may not modify these style files or use templates designed for other conferences.

We also highly encourage work presented in a non-traditional format, including, but not limited to art, poetry, music, or videos! Submissions need NOT be in English. This is to maximize the inclusivity of our call for submissions and amplify non-traditional expressions of what it means to be Queer in AI.

There are no page limits. If you are considering submitting work presented in a non-traditional format, you are still required to submit an abstract and include a link pointing to your work.

Important Dates

• Visa-friendly submission deadline: Sunday, April 10 AoE (Anywhere on Earth)

• Final submission deadline: Friday, May 20 AoE (Anywhere on Earth)

• Final notifications of acceptance: Wednesday, June 01

• Camera-ready submissions due from accepted authors: Wednesday, June 15

We will open the call on Sunday, February 20 and we will have TWO deadlines for submission – one is a visa-friendly submission deadline, in case you want to present your work in-person at the conference and will require to obtain a visa to do so. Note that we are currently NOT guaranteeing full support for the process of obtaining a visa, but we will work our hardest to provide as much support for this as we can. The visa-friendly deadline to submit to our workshop is Sunday, April 10 AoE (Anywhere on Earth) and the final deadline is Friday, May 20 AoE.

Acceptance notifications will go out on a rolling basis, and final notifications of acceptance will go out by Wednesday, June 01.

If you need help with your submission in the form of mentoring or advice, you can get in touch with us at queer-in-nlp@googlegroups.com.

Click here to submit (Abstract is required, it need not be formal and can be a brief synopsis of your project)

Resources

• To learn about and request subsidies for registration, travel + accommodations, caregiving + accessibility, or bandwidth + VPNs then please check out the NAACL subsidies page.

Speakers and Panelists

Panel: Non-Binary Representation in Language Technologies

Contact Us

Email: queer-in-nlp@googlegroups.com

Code of Conduct

Please read the Queer in AI code of conduct, which will be strictly followed at all times. Recording (screen recording or screenshots) is prohibited. All participants are expected to maintain the confidentiality of other participants.

NAACL 2022 adheres to the ACL Code of Conduct and Queer in AI adheres to Queer in AI Anti-harassment policy. Any participant who experiences harassment or hostile behavior may contact to NAACL exec team, or contact the Queer in AI Safety Team. Please be assured that if you approach us, your concerns will be kept in strict confidence, and we will consult with you on any actions taken.

Structure

The workshop and social dates are currently being finalized; please check in soon! NAACL 2022 itself is from July 10-15, 2022 and will be a hybrid conference in Seattle, Washington, USA. We aim to also provide hybrid events with both in-person and virtual offerings.

Organizers

Luca Soldaini (Queer in AI & Allen Institute for AI)

Luca is an applied research scientist at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) working on Semantic Scholar. Their current research interests are question answering and information retrieval systems operating at scale. They are also a core organizer at Queer In AI, where they help with event organization, scholarship programs, and sponsors relations.

Sharvani Jha (she/her) | Queer in AI & Microsoft

Sharvani is a software engineer at Microsoft (UCLA ‘21). She is a co-founder of QWER Hacks and is interested in AI ethics. At Queer In AI, she’s working on undergraduate mentorship, organizing Queer In AI workshops, coordinating social media, and more!

Maria Leonor Pacheco (Purdue University)

Maria is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. Her research focuses on deep structured prediction and neuro-symbolic methods for discourse analysis. She is one of the student chairs of the NAACL 2022 Student Research Workshop and an organizer of the LatinX in AI events in NLP.

Jeffrey Xiong (Columbia University)

Jeffrey is an undergraduate student at Columbia University, majoring in mathematics and computer science. Their research focuses on taking advantage of the properties of certain geometric spaces to develop better models for machine learning. Jeffrey is involved with Queer in AI conference organization and research into responsible use of AI.

Hetvi J (Indian Institute of Technology Delhi)

Hetvi is an undergraduate student at IIT Delhi, enrolled in the B. Tech Mathematics and Computing program. Hetvi is interested in research in Biology facilitated by theoretical CS approaches, and likes to collaborate with AI systems to make art. Hetvi is involved with Queer in AI as an organizer, mainly researching responsible use of AI.

Ava Asmani (University of California, Los Angeles)

Ava is an undergraduate student studying Electrical Engineering at UCLA. She is currently working in the Communications Systems Laboratory, researching and making high-rate list decoders. Ava is interested in the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and Electrical Engineering.