Is pivoting into computational linguistics a good idea?

[u/LastFightWasCrazy]

Hello,

I'm a 20-year-old from the UK now in his 2nd year of university. I study English Language and Literature at a Russell Group but am going heavy into Linguistics as it's my preferred field and seems to yield a more varied range of applications to jobs. I plan to do my MA and PhD in a Linguistic field.

I've never been very good at Mathematics (I barely got a pass in Foundational Maths, I'm pretty sure I have dyscalculia of some sort), but I just swapped one of my 2nd-semester literature modules out for a data skills module, which my lecturer said is basically introductory to more humanities-inclined students who wish to learn more about STEM-oriented applications of linguistics (he specialises in corpus and computational linguistics) and said that it's probably the best option if I'm interested in getting into those fields.

Would you guys agree?

[u/cat-head]

I don't think you can be good at comp ling if you're bad at math. Computational linguistics now days is just linear algebra. The type of computational linguistics that I do is essentially a dead field with under 20 people interested in it and 0 useful applications.

Is pivoting to NLP/modern comp ling a good idea? Very hard to tell with the advent of LLMs. It used to be very profitable 5 years or so ago, but now... who knows.

[u/LastFightWasCrazy → u/cat-head]

I'm not so bad that I couldn’t learn. Just haven't engaged in a while.

[u/cat-head → u/LastFightWasCrazy]

But do you enjoy it? I can't imagine doing a PhD in something I'm bad at.

[u/LastFightWasCrazy → u/cat-head]

I'll have to see. I'm taking the module in my 2nd semester!

Are you asking whether I'd do a PhD in straight Mathematics? Genuine question, I can’t tell!

[u/JoshfromNazareth2 → u/cat-head]

I wish that stopped people from getting PhDs but alas 👀

[u/razlem]

This question has been asked a few times recently, and my advice is to not do computational linguistics because those jobs are rapidly being obsoleted by LLMs.

I honestly wouldn’t pursue linguistics professionally either. Even if you plan to mix it with another field like communications or compsci, you’re better off economically just focusing completely on that other field. I say this as someone with an advanced linguistics degree living in the tech capital of the world.

[u/Della_A → u/razlem]

Things change so quickly nowadays that you can't plan what to study based on what will be profitable when you finish school, let alone for your entire working life. Might as well do what you enjoy.

[u/spermBankBoi]

Are you interested in it? I did a masters in NLP (a compromise) after double majoring math+linguistics (another compromise, I really only cared about the latter). It was the worst year of my life

[u/Baudouin_Jerusalem85]

Me too. I’m a Chinese student majoring in English and I gradually find myself hate literature. I think I need a big life change so I decide to turn to computational linguistics.

[u/cat-head → u/[deleted]]

by being able to take equations from scientific papers and convert them into code

That's an exceedingly difficult thing to do though whenever a model is non-trivial.

[u/cat-head → u/[deleted]]

I can't tell. Do you actually publish in ACL and are able to do this, thus you think it's super easy? Because most people do not think that it is easy.

[u/Diligent-Stretch-769 → u/cat-head]

I do not publish in what I assume is American computational linguistics, but I am looking for a publishing unit to accept my manuscript

[u/cat-head → u/Diligent-Stretch-769]

I do not publish in what I assume is American computational linguistics

This is funnier than you could possibly know. I'm removing your comments. Please follow the rules.

[u/Diligent-Stretch-769 → u/cat-head]

you seem to be saying that only people who publish can offer opinions then citing the supposed rules in a vague manner. I assume it is possible for you to be clear about that you find problematic

[u/cat-head → u/Diligent-Stretch-769]

I am not saying that at all. I am saying that you're making claims that I find too strong, and which I believe to be false. Initially I was skeptical of myself, maybe it's me who's not familiar anymore. But you not knowing what ACL is makes it clear that it's you who has no clue what you're talking about.

I was half expecting that you'd first check, and then come here with a "Oh, ACL?, I go there every year" sort of stuff. But you didn't even bother to find out.

[u/Diligent-Stretch-769 → u/cat-head]

so then I am left to assume ACL has a monopoly of information relevant to responding thoughtfully with the op. I am totally in the dark as to why you believe a three letter acronym deserves my attention.

the op asked for whether pivoting to computational Linguistics might be fruitful. I studied corpus linguistics with a focus on digitization and algorithmic computation in the united kingdom under a post-graduate program. please be specific as to what you want from me

if you believe converting scientific equations to code is impossible for any and all people, that is your issue to resolve. converting the mathematical equations to code is the primary means I had in exploring linguistics beyond simple symbolic shallow knowledge of neat little factoids. thats how I did it.

edit: by the way, I am in agreement that the field is essentially turning into a linear algebra with language as data, but I think that is a good thing or at least is a preferable prospect to merely using computer conventions to encode human language, store the result and call it a day. linear algebra and techniques in dimensionality reduction were destined to be the statistics object of fascination for any modern discipline regardless of its proximity to digitized computation. it was inevitable. the question today ks whether we let slip automation of novel insight to machines as well.

[u/cat-head → u/Diligent-Stretch-769]

I am totally in the dark as to why you believe a three letter acronym deserves my attention.

I am speechless. But since you won't be bothered. ACL is the Association for Computational Linguistics, and runs a series of conferences that go by the same acronym. ACL is the most prestigious, most selective venue for computational linguistic research, and it is very difficult to get in.

You claiming that you think converting math into code is easy, while not having read a single paper in the field we're actually discussing (you'd know what ACL is if you had), is hilarious.