Generation Challenges 2010

自然语言生成(NLG)是自然语言处理(NLP)的一个子领域，致力于开发自动生成语言的计算方法。NLG技术的可能应用包括节省文本生成过程和改善非语言信息的获取，以及机器翻译、文本摘要和人机对话。NLG拥有巨大的潜力，但到目前为止基本上还没有实现。在其他NLP领域，共享数据、共享核心技术和有组织的共享任务竞赛被视为激励了研究界，并导致了快速的技术进步。在NLG研究人员中，对比较评估形式日益增长的兴趣引发了一场讨论，这场讨论现在已经导致了NLG的前三次共享任务评估比赛：2007年，我们组织了一个试点NLG共享任务评估活动，生成引用表达式的属性选择(ASGRE‘07)挑战；2008年，我们组织了引用表达式生成挑战(REG’08)，参与人数翻了一番，并与NLG的领先国际会议(INLG‘08在俄亥俄州哥伦布市共同举办)；今年，我们组织了第一代挑战活动，任务、组织团队和参与者的数量进一步增加，并与在NLG举行的领先的欧洲会议(ENLG‘09在雅典)共同举办。ASGRE‘07、REG’08和2009世代挑战在NLG研究人员中引起了热情，导致了新技术和数据资源的创造，并吸引了新的研究人员进入该领域。为了继续和加强这些有益的影响，我们正在组织第四次NLG评估活动，2010新一代挑战，再次与领先的NLG会议(INLG‘10)相结合。新一代挑战2010年包括两项从前一年的任务中发展而来的任务、两项新任务和三个关于目前正在开发的新任务的工作组，预计将于2011年运行。为了使新一代挑战倡议具有更永久和更具代表性的基础，我们最近成立了新一代挑战指导委员会，其成员包括NLG领域的许多领先研究人员。我们2010年的目标是建立机制，确保新一代挑战倡议的长期延续，并纳入越来越多组织和运行自己任务的研究人员。与由美国政府机构资助和指导的机器翻译和文档摘要领域的领先评估计划不同，ASGRE‘07、REG’08、GenChal‘09和Now Generation Challenges2010是基于社区的、由英国主导的评估计划。这项提案要求为伞式组织和行政活动提供资金，以及为2010年的共同任务之一进行数据准备和评估实验，以使我们能够开展全面的计划活动，并保持这一倡议以社区为基础，由英国主导。

Natural Language Generation (NLG) is the subfield of Natural LanguageProcessing (NLP) that is concerned with developing computationalmethods for automatically producing language. Possible applicationsof NLG technology include economising text-production processes andimproving access to non-verbal information, as well as machinetranslation, text summarisation and human-computer dialogue. NLG is afield with vast but so far largely unrealised potential. In other NLPfields, shared data, shared core technology and organised shared-taskcompetitions have been seen to galvanise research communities, andlead to rapid technological progress. Among NLG researchers, growinginterest in comparative forms of evaluation led to a discussion whichhas now resulted in the first three shared-task evaluationcompetitions in NLG: in 2007, we organised a pilot NLG shared-taskevaluation event, the Attribute Selection for Generating ReferringExpressions (ASGRE'07) Challenge; in 2008, we organised the ReferringExpression Generation Challenge (REG'08) which saw participationdouble and was co-located with the leading international conference inNLG (INLG'08 in Columbus, Ohio); and this year, we organised the firstGeneration Challenges event which saw the number of tasks, organisingteams and participants increase further and was co-located with the leadingEuropean conference in NLG (ENLG'09 in Athens). ASGRE'07, REG'08 andGeneration Challenges 2009 have met with enthusiasm among NLGresearchers, have resulted in the creation of new technology and dataresources, and have drawn new researchers into the field. In order tocontinue and increase these beneficial effects, we are organising afourth NLG evaluation event, Generation Challenges 2010, once again inconjunction with the leading NLG conference (INLG'10). GenerationChallenges 2010 comprises two tasks that have grown out of tasks fromthe previous year, two new tasks, and three working groups on new taskscurrently under development which are expected to run in 2011. Inorder to put the Generation Challenges initiative on a more permanentand representative footing, we have recently founded the GenerationChallenges Steering Committee whose members include many of theleading researchers in the NLG field. Our aim for 2010 is to putmechanisms in place that ensure the long-term continuation of theGeneration Challenges initiative and the inclusion of growing numbersof researchers organising and running their own tasks. Unlike leadingevaluation initiatives in Machine Translation and DocumentSummarisation, which are funded and directed by US governmentagencies, ASGRE'07, REG'08, GenChal'09 and now Generation Challenges2010 are community-based, UK-led evaluation initiatives. Thisproposal requests funding for umbrella organisation and administrativeactivities, as well as data preparation and evaluation experiments forone of the shared tasks in Generation Challenges 2010, to enable us tocarry out the full range of planned activities, and to keep thisinitiative community-based and UK-led.