<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto" style="line-break:after-white-space"><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none">Dear Language Machines Network,</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:11px"><span style="font-kerning:none"></span><br></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none">We'd like to invite you to our next reading group meeting. We'll discuss Maria Erofeeva (Free University of Brussels) and Nils Klowait’s (Paderborn) draft article "Nonhuman Situational Enmeshment – How Participants Build Temporal Infrastructures for ChatGPT" on <b>Monday, March 17th, 2025 from 18:00-20:00 CET</b>. See below for the schedule of future meetings.</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26);min-height:11px"><span style="font-kerning:none"></span><br></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none"><i>Abstract: The ability of fine-tuned large-language models (LLMs) to generate fluent text challenges our understandings of language-in-use. How can LLMs produce meaningful text without living in the world as humans do? This paper argues that (1) textually mediated human-machine interaction requires no shared context beyond what is already indexed by the collaboratively produced (co-)text, and (2) it is sufficient for the human to appreciate and advance the resolution of misunderstandings. To substantiate these claims, the paper contrasts a pragmatic understanding of meaning with criticism from linguistic anthropology and empirical findings from conversation analysis. Participants that interact through chat are not physically co-present and often share a limited personal history. References to physical presence or experiences not shared thus need to be made explicit in the (co-)text. Conversation analysis further shows that many of the potential misinterpretations imagined by semantic analysis in scenarios of co-presence are not relevant in practice due to the co-text utterances are embedded in. Participants project understandings through statements and responses, and the absence of evidence of misunderstanding is sufficient for the interaction to progress. When there is evidence of a misunderstanding among humans, i.e. a failure to interpret intentions, this is dealt with procedurally and step-by-step through the repair organization. Accordingly, failures by LLMs to fully participate in repair can be compensated by the human interactant procedurally. In short, repairing a misguided interaction is an occasional and procedural collaborative activity where interpretation can remain limited to the human side of a human-machine interaction.</i></span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26);min-height:11px"><span style="font-kerning:none"></span><br></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none;color:rgb(251,0,7)">RSVP</span><span style="font-kerning:none"> here: <a href="mailto:languagemachinesnetwork@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-kerning:none;color:rgb(16,60,192)">languagemachinesnetwork@gmail.com</span></a> (e.g. reply to this email) to receive the Zoom link and the PDF of the article when it is available (not to be circulated, please).</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26);min-height:11px"><span style="font-kerning:none"></span><br></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(25,25,25)"><span style="font-kerning:none">We look forward to seeing you there!</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26);min-height:11px"><span style="font-kerning:none"></span><br></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none">Anna, Siri, Michael</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none"><br></span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none">April 21 - Zachary Sheldon (Pittsburgh)</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none">May 19 - Janet Connor (Leiden)</span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><span style="font-kerning:none">June 16 - Raffaele Buono (UCL)</span></p></div></div>
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