Artificial Knowledge of Language

Although Markov, Turing, von Neumann, or Chomsky never got a Nobel Prize, technologists developing their foundational ideas into Large Language Models surprisingly did: in 2024. The present book delves into the (for now) state-of-the-art in this saga, presenting it as dispassionately as possible through eight prismatic chapters. If readers wonder how momentous an epilogue and beyond can be, they only need to imagine the offspring of a next generation of such devices - albeit built beyond classical presuppositions in hardware, logic, or even modeling. The latter no longer seems like a chimerical possibility; whether that is for better or for worse, surviving the future may tell.

Dr. Juan Uriagereka

Professor, Linguistics & SLLC

University of Maryland

A comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of the issues (and non-issues) raised for linguistic theory, particularly Chomskyan linguistic theory, by the development of Large Language Models. The editor's introduction is particularly useful. Highly recommended for linguists, including computational linguists, of all persuasions, as well as computer scientists, philosophers and psychologists with an interest in language and AI.

Dr. Ian Roberts

Professor of Linguistics

University of Cambridge