About this Event
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🧠Lecture: "A Linguist’s Take on AI"
🎤 Speaker: Prof. Adam Crockett
We see the pessimistic and confused stories all the time. Why is AI “lying” to us? Why does it keep hallucinating? Is AI really on the path to sentience? The usual answer is that the technology is just young and will inevitably improve. But linguists—people who study how language actually works—are not so sure.
Drawing on structuralism, a linguistic philosophy developed by Ferdinand de Saussure, Prof. Adam Crockett will explore the idea that meaning comes from systems and relationships, not isolated words. Humans use rich linguistic structures to move beyond simple associations (like those we see when teaching animals “language”) into genuine abstraction and context.
With this lens, the failures of Large Language Models look less like growing pains and more like the limits of a technology built on misconceptions about language itself. This talk will unpack how LLMs are built, marketed, and even thought of as “conscious” communicators, despite being detached from the fundamental processes by which humans create and share meaning.
Prof. Crockett has taught English and Humanities for nine years at the College of Lake County and Harper College, specializing in literature, media literacy, pedagogy, and world and classical mythology.
Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌
Agenda
6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.
6:55 PM – Host introduction
7:00 PM – Lecture begins
7:45 PM – Audience Q&A
8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round
8:30 PM – Wrap up.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
River North, River North, Chicago, United States
USD 39.19
