BRAC University Computer Club (BUCC) organised a seminar titled "Conducting Student Thesis and Research with Bengali.AI" on their Facebook page on December 3, 2023.
Bengali.AI is a community that works to open-source datasets for research. At its core lies natural language processing (NLP), which is the ability of a computer program to understand human language as it is spoken and written -- referred to as natural language. It is a component of artificial intelligence (AI), reads techtarget.com.
The NLP enables computers to understand natural language as humans do. Whether the language is spoken or written, natural language processing uses artificial intelligence to take real-world input, process it, and make sense of it in a way a computer can understand. Just as humans have different sensors -- such as ears to hear and eyes to see -- computers have programs to read and microphones to collect audio. And just as humans have a brain to process that input, computers have a program to process their respective inputs. At some point in processing, the input is converted to code that the computer can understand.
The event sought to inspire students to expand their perspectives regarding these issues alongside research methods and the importance of mentorship and thereby enhance their abilities.
The key speakers were members of Bengali.AI, including Coordinator Asif Shahriyar Shusmit, Assistant Coordinator Md Rezuwan Hassan, Linguists Tanveer Azmal, Azmol Hossain and Kanij Fatema and Advisors Rubayet Sabbir Faruque and Farig Yousuf Sadeque, who is also the Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at BRAC University.
Md Rezuwan Hassan began by discussing Bengali.AI's success in Bangla speech recognition and advising students. He stressed on the value of mentorship in research, the challenge of starting from zero, and the significance of coding and algorithms. He suggested focusing initially on a diverse dataset covering different voices, genders, regions, and topics.
Rubayet Sabbir Faruque shared his team's experiences at Bengali.AI whereas Tanveer Azmal outlined collaboration requirements. The speakers emphasised AI's role in automating various sectors, with Rezuwan Hassan giving the example of the use of the NLP for flood detection.
Asif Shahriyar Shusmit spoke about Bengali.AI's primary objectives, him connecting with Professor Farig through social media, and the importance of identifying and solving research gaps. He stressed working in less explored but vital areas and the need for adequate funding and effective communication. He said the aim should be to help the country by ensuring that AI understands common languages.
Md Abu Hanif Siam, Director of the Event Management Department at the BUCC, moderated the event.