Chris Manning: How computers are learning to understand language

Earlier this year, Christopher Manning, a Stanford professor of computer science and of linguistics, was named the Thomas M. Siebel Professor in Machine Learning, thanks to a gift from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation. Manning specializes in natural language processing – designing computer algorithms that can understand meaning and sentiment in written and spoken language and respond intelligently. His work is closely tied to the sort of voice-activated systems found in smartphones and in online applications that translate text between human languages. He relies on an offshoot of artificial intelligence known as deep learning to design algorithms that can teach themselves to understand meaning and adapt to new or evolving uses of language. Siebel, a pioneer in numerous areas of information technology and known for his ability to see and understand emerging trends in computer science and beyond, has long held an interest in precisely this kind of work.