An Introduction to Neural Networks for Natural Language Processing: Applications and Implementation

Automatically processing natural language is quite a challenge for a machine. Complex structure and associations, that are easy for humans to understand, are often not easy to reflect in machine representations. This workshop aims at shedding light on the usefulness of neural networks as the goto machine learning algorithm in natural language processing and aims at explaining some of the basic concepts and building blocks. With a focus on application, prominent architectures will be presented to develop an understanding of basic concepts of working with neural networks. There is a broad spectrum of neural network frameworks out there which aim at lowering the beginner's threshold of working with neural networks. With help of the framework "Keras" there will be programming examples and also the possibility of actively programming. Objectives of the workshop: Understanding the basics of neural networks Overview over NLP from a computer science point of view Basics in programming a neural network in Keras Understanding the basic challenges for a computer in working with natural language Target audience: This workshop is considered a practical application-focussed Introduction. A basic understanding of mathematical principles and programming (in python) is advantageous. Other than that, the workshop is meant for everybody with curiosity in neural networks and natural language processing.First held at the European Summer University of Cultures and Technology 2019, University of Leipzig