The Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), in collaboration with MILA and IVADO, invites you to participate in the networking industrial workshop on Dialogue systems, research and development. This event will take place on May 8, 2018, in Room AA-1140 of the Pavillon André-Aisenstadt on the Université de Montréal campus. The address of this building (no. 20 on the campus map) is 2920, Chemin de la tour, Campus de l’Université de Montréal.

http://www.crm.umontreal.ca/coord/CampusUdeM.pdf

Organizers: Sarath Chandar and Alain Tapp (MILA, Université de Montréal)

Institutions: CRM, MILA and IVADO

Number of participants: 80

This event is FREE.

Description

The recent breakthroughs in deep learning have revived the interest in automated conversational systems commonly known as chatbots. The objective of this one-day workshop is to foster interaction and consistency between all the large Montreal-area players involved in research and development in the area of dialogue systems. The program will consist of invited lectures by influential academic players and short informative presentations by academic and industrial representatives. The day will conclude with a structured brainstorming session. For more details please see the workshop schedule below.

Keywords

Dialog systems, natural language processing, natural language generation, directed dialog systems, chatbots, question answering

Workshop objectives

We have the following objectives in mind for this event: to gain a broad view of the goals and projects of all Montreal-area players in both academia and industry; to connect industry with academia; to assess opportunities, expectations, and actual capabilities in the field of chatbots; to address modularity; and to address Montreal’s linguistic specificity.

Registration, contact information, and lunch

We remind you that this event is free of charge. You are welcome to send this invitation to a colleague if you think it is relevant. Participants are requested to register by using the link below.

Registration

Please confirm whether you will be staying for lunch (before May 1st) and mention any food allergies you might have. For further information please send an email to Charlie Mainville (Charlie.Mainville@ivado.ca) or Odile Marcotte (marcotte@crm.umontreal.ca).

Schedule

8:45 – 9:00 Welcome

9:00 – 10:15 Industrial rump-session (many industry participants will briefly present their projects, problematics, and goals)

10:15 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 11:15 Saizheng Zhang (MILA), seminar

11:15 – 12:00 Iulian Serban (MILA), seminar

12:00 – 13:30 Group lunch in the Salon Maurice Labbé (AA-6245)

13:30 – 15:00 Academic rump-session (many professors and students will briefly present their work and/or interests)

15:00 – 15:15 Coffee break

15:15 – 16:00 Joëlle Pineau (McGill), seminar

16:00 – 16:40 Industrial and academic brainstorming sessions

An (optional) dinner will be an opportunity for small groups to continue the discussion according to their own agenda.