Human Factors in NLP

This micro-credential will introduce students to important issues that arise in Natural Language Processing (NLP) because NLP systems are trained on human data, are used by humans, and directly affect human lives. 

Students will study

• the particular properties that characterise human languages,
• issues arising from training NLP systems on human-generated data,
• implications of building NLP systems for use by humans, and
• responsibilities arising from the real impact that NLP systems, like other AI systems, have on people's lives.
• Students will learn about the fundamentals of theoretical and applied linguistics, the ethical issues and safeguards that need to be put in place in language data collection, and how NLP systems can be responsibly and informatively evaluated by human users and results be meaningfully analysed and responsibly reported. Students will be introduced to the different ways in which NLP systems directly and indirectly affect people, and what developers can do to assess impacts and mitigate them. 

Students will engage with these topics through lectures, hands-on exercises and a research project.

A Primary Honours degree, Level 8 in Electronic/Electrical/Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, Computer Sciences or other Cognate/Engineering Disciplines. Applications are also invited from diverse educational and/or employment backgrounds, with applications evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

And also to indicate the required documentation:

• Please provide Academic Transcripts for final year of study where appropriate (English translation)
• All applicants must submit a copy of their passport.

There is no availability for a deferred entry onto a micro-credential.
If applicable, evidence of competence in the English language as per DCU entry requirements.  Please see here.
For further information regarding the HCI learner subsidy eligibility criteria please click here. (https://hea.ie/skills-engagement/hci-pillar-3-micro-credentials-learner-fee-subsidy/).