How Computers Parse the Ambiguity of Everyday Language
Words with multiple meanings pose a special challenge to algorithms.
by Ben Zimmer
Jun 27, 2018
4 minutes
If you’re one of the 2.4 million Twitter followers of the Hamilton impresario Lin-Manuel Miranda, you’ve come to expect a delightful stream of observations, including tweets capturing conversations with his son Sebastian, now 3 years old. Earlier this month, Miranda offered one such exchange under the title, “S’MORES. A Real-Life One-Act Play.”
Me: So that’s the marshmallow but you’re going to eat it with this graham cracker and chocolate.
[My son looks at me like I am the dumbest person alive.]
Sebastian: No, I’m going to eat it with my MOUTH.
[End of play.]
A charming slice of life, to be sure. But in that brief interaction, young Sebastian Miranda also
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