Abdellah Fourtassi
@fourtassi.bsky.social
Multimodal Communication and Learning in Social Interactions (CoCoDev team). Associate Professor of Computer/Cognitive Science at Aix-Marseille University.
afourtassi.github.io
afourtassi.github.io
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
📢 Announcing the First Workshop on Multilingual and Multicultural Evaluation (MME) at #EACL2026 🇲🇦
MME focuses on resources, metrics & methodologies for evaluating multilingual systems! multilingual-multicultural-evaluation.github.io
📅 Workshop Mar 24–29, 2026
🗓️ Submit by Dec 19, 2025
MME focuses on resources, metrics & methodologies for evaluating multilingual systems! multilingual-multicultural-evaluation.github.io
📅 Workshop Mar 24–29, 2026
🗓️ Submit by Dec 19, 2025
October 20, 2025 at 10:37 AM
📢 Announcing the First Workshop on Multilingual and Multicultural Evaluation (MME) at #EACL2026 🇲🇦
MME focuses on resources, metrics & methodologies for evaluating multilingual systems! multilingual-multicultural-evaluation.github.io
📅 Workshop Mar 24–29, 2026
🗓️ Submit by Dec 19, 2025
MME focuses on resources, metrics & methodologies for evaluating multilingual systems! multilingual-multicultural-evaluation.github.io
📅 Workshop Mar 24–29, 2026
🗓️ Submit by Dec 19, 2025
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞? 🇨🇳🇮🇩🇸🇪
Here’s the proof! 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐋𝐌 is the first Multilingual Benchmark of Developmentally Plausible Training Data available for 45 languages to the NLP community 🎉
arxiv.org/abs/2510.10159
Here’s the proof! 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐋𝐌 is the first Multilingual Benchmark of Developmentally Plausible Training Data available for 45 languages to the NLP community 🎉
arxiv.org/abs/2510.10159
October 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞? 🇨🇳🇮🇩🇸🇪
Here’s the proof! 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐋𝐌 is the first Multilingual Benchmark of Developmentally Plausible Training Data available for 45 languages to the NLP community 🎉
arxiv.org/abs/2510.10159
Here’s the proof! 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐋𝐌 is the first Multilingual Benchmark of Developmentally Plausible Training Data available for 45 languages to the NLP community 🎉
arxiv.org/abs/2510.10159
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Thrilled to be heading to Suzhou with a big team of GroNLP'ers 🐮
Interested in Interpretable, Cognitively inspired, Low-resource LMs? Don't miss our posters & talks #EMNLP2025!
Interested in Interpretable, Cognitively inspired, Low-resource LMs? Don't miss our posters & talks #EMNLP2025!
With only a week left for #EMNLP2025, we are happy to announce all the works we 🐮 will present 🥳 - come and say "hi" to our posters and presentations during the Main and the co-located events (*SEM and workshops) See you in Suzhou ✈️
October 31, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Thrilled to be heading to Suzhou with a big team of GroNLP'ers 🐮
Interested in Interpretable, Cognitively inspired, Low-resource LMs? Don't miss our posters & talks #EMNLP2025!
Interested in Interpretable, Cognitively inspired, Low-resource LMs? Don't miss our posters & talks #EMNLP2025!
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Another banger from @tallinzen.bsky.social .
Also fits with some of the criticisms of Centaur and my faculty-based approach generally; if you want LLMs to model human cognition, give them more architecture akin to human faculty psychology like long and short-term memory.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.05141
Also fits with some of the criticisms of Centaur and my faculty-based approach generally; if you want LLMs to model human cognition, give them more architecture akin to human faculty psychology like long and short-term memory.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.05141
To model human linguistic prediction, make LLMs less superhuman
When people listen to or read a sentence, they actively make predictions about upcoming words: words that are less predictable are generally read more slowly than predictable ones. The success of larg...
arxiv.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Another banger from @tallinzen.bsky.social .
Also fits with some of the criticisms of Centaur and my faculty-based approach generally; if you want LLMs to model human cognition, give them more architecture akin to human faculty psychology like long and short-term memory.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.05141
Also fits with some of the criticisms of Centaur and my faculty-based approach generally; if you want LLMs to model human cognition, give them more architecture akin to human faculty psychology like long and short-term memory.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.05141
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
"A compelling and thought-provoking analysis of human sociality and the origins of language."
The Interaction Engine by Stephen C. Levinson (@mpi-nl.bsky.social), Out Now & #OpenAccess
https://cup.org/4nusznG
#OA #Linguistics #LangSky 🐦🐦
The Interaction Engine by Stephen C. Levinson (@mpi-nl.bsky.social), Out Now & #OpenAccess
https://cup.org/4nusznG
#OA #Linguistics #LangSky 🐦🐦
October 1, 2025 at 9:05 PM
"A compelling and thought-provoking analysis of human sociality and the origins of language."
The Interaction Engine by Stephen C. Levinson (@mpi-nl.bsky.social), Out Now & #OpenAccess
https://cup.org/4nusznG
#OA #Linguistics #LangSky 🐦🐦
The Interaction Engine by Stephen C. Levinson (@mpi-nl.bsky.social), Out Now & #OpenAccess
https://cup.org/4nusznG
#OA #Linguistics #LangSky 🐦🐦
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Super proud of this work and very grateful for all the amazing people who provided valuable feedback along the way @remivantrijp.bsky.social @sheinalew.bsky.social @cedricboeckx.bsky.social @inbalarnon.bsky.social ❤️❤️❤️🙏
Children are not the main agents of language change. New paper by @limorraviv.bsky.social @damianblasi.bsky.social & @vkempe.bsky.social.
psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/...
www.mpi.nl/publications...
psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/...
www.mpi.nl/publications...
September 9, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Super proud of this work and very grateful for all the amazing people who provided valuable feedback along the way @remivantrijp.bsky.social @sheinalew.bsky.social @cedricboeckx.bsky.social @inbalarnon.bsky.social ❤️❤️❤️🙏
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
✨ #ILCB Summer School 2025 – Just a few days to go! ✨
From September 1–5, we’ll welcome students, researchers, and lecturers at CIRM, #Marseille for a week of courses, workshops, and discussions on #language, #brain & #cognition.
Looking forward to a stimulating week of scientific exchanges!
From September 1–5, we’ll welcome students, researchers, and lecturers at CIRM, #Marseille for a week of courses, workshops, and discussions on #language, #brain & #cognition.
Looking forward to a stimulating week of scientific exchanges!
August 29, 2025 at 12:30 PM
✨ #ILCB Summer School 2025 – Just a few days to go! ✨
From September 1–5, we’ll welcome students, researchers, and lecturers at CIRM, #Marseille for a week of courses, workshops, and discussions on #language, #brain & #cognition.
Looking forward to a stimulating week of scientific exchanges!
From September 1–5, we’ll welcome students, researchers, and lecturers at CIRM, #Marseille for a week of courses, workshops, and discussions on #language, #brain & #cognition.
Looking forward to a stimulating week of scientific exchanges!
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
🌞 Back from the summer break!
We kick off the new season with an exciting ILCB Talk by Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh):
🗓️ Sept 26, 2025 – Marseille
🎙️ “Cultural evolution creates language-like structure: from humans to humpback whales and beyond”
🔗 ilcb.fr/event/simon-kirby
#ILCB
We kick off the new season with an exciting ILCB Talk by Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh):
🗓️ Sept 26, 2025 – Marseille
🎙️ “Cultural evolution creates language-like structure: from humans to humpback whales and beyond”
🔗 ilcb.fr/event/simon-kirby
#ILCB
August 28, 2025 at 7:54 AM
🌞 Back from the summer break!
We kick off the new season with an exciting ILCB Talk by Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh):
🗓️ Sept 26, 2025 – Marseille
🎙️ “Cultural evolution creates language-like structure: from humans to humpback whales and beyond”
🔗 ilcb.fr/event/simon-kirby
#ILCB
We kick off the new season with an exciting ILCB Talk by Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh):
🗓️ Sept 26, 2025 – Marseille
🎙️ “Cultural evolution creates language-like structure: from humans to humpback whales and beyond”
🔗 ilcb.fr/event/simon-kirby
#ILCB
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
The first live session for our poster #CogSci2025 is happening right now on Teams: CogSci V3-P-41 Europe and Asia
1 august 2025
12:00 - 13:00 (GMT)
teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
1 august 2025
12:00 - 13:00 (GMT)
teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
August 1, 2025 at 11:12 AM
The first live session for our poster #CogSci2025 is happening right now on Teams: CogSci V3-P-41 Europe and Asia
1 august 2025
12:00 - 13:00 (GMT)
teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
1 august 2025
12:00 - 13:00 (GMT)
teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...
@cogscisociety.bsky.social
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Let me know if you don't have access via your institution and I can send you a copy personally ☺️
Pleased that my new chapter that will be published in the International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics has now been published online: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
July 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Let me know if you don't have access via your institution and I can send you a copy personally ☺️
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Just in time for the @cogscisociety.bsky.social conference and the Rumelhart 25th Anniversary Event, the 2023 Rumelhart Prize Issue Honoring Nick Chater is out in TopiCS in Cognitive Science, edited by Mike Oaksford and me:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17568765...
🧵 1/3
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17568765...
🧵 1/3
July 28, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Just in time for the @cogscisociety.bsky.social conference and the Rumelhart 25th Anniversary Event, the 2023 Rumelhart Prize Issue Honoring Nick Chater is out in TopiCS in Cognitive Science, edited by Mike Oaksford and me:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17568765...
🧵 1/3
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17568765...
🧵 1/3
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
How do our brains and bodies support social learning in real time?
We take an ecological and multimodal neuroscience approach to study mutual prediction and social coordination when learning with others.
It took 5 full years for this one! Full open-access pre-print: osf.io/preprints/ps...
We take an ecological and multimodal neuroscience approach to study mutual prediction and social coordination when learning with others.
It took 5 full years for this one! Full open-access pre-print: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 23, 2025 at 10:31 AM
How do our brains and bodies support social learning in real time?
We take an ecological and multimodal neuroscience approach to study mutual prediction and social coordination when learning with others.
It took 5 full years for this one! Full open-access pre-print: osf.io/preprints/ps...
We take an ecological and multimodal neuroscience approach to study mutual prediction and social coordination when learning with others.
It took 5 full years for this one! Full open-access pre-print: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
I am advertising 2 positions in language evolution with my group at @dondersinst.bsky.social:
📢 Fully-funded PhD position (Robotics/AI 🤖) www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
📢 Postdoc position (Virtual Reality 🎮)
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Deadline for applications is August 14th. Please RT! :)
📢 Fully-funded PhD position (Robotics/AI 🤖) www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
📢 Postdoc position (Virtual Reality 🎮)
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Deadline for applications is August 14th. Please RT! :)
July 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I am advertising 2 positions in language evolution with my group at @dondersinst.bsky.social:
📢 Fully-funded PhD position (Robotics/AI 🤖) www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
📢 Postdoc position (Virtual Reality 🎮)
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Deadline for applications is August 14th. Please RT! :)
📢 Fully-funded PhD position (Robotics/AI 🤖) www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
📢 Postdoc position (Virtual Reality 🎮)
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Deadline for applications is August 14th. Please RT! :)
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Pleased that my paper with @gabriellavigliocco.bsky.social, @fourtassi.bsky.social, Yan Gu, and Stefano James has been accepted as a talk at this year's Embodied and Situated Language Processing conference at Aix-Marseille University. Abstract below 👇
July 15, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Pleased that my paper with @gabriellavigliocco.bsky.social, @fourtassi.bsky.social, Yan Gu, and Stefano James has been accepted as a talk at this year's Embodied and Situated Language Processing conference at Aix-Marseille University. Abstract below 👇
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Two nice papers now added to my primer of what to read about theory in cognitive science ... docs.google.com/document/d/1... 1/
Theory: What to read
The role of theory in cognitive science Or: my guide to what to read if you really want to understand how to do good, robust , theory-driven cognitive science. (disclaimer: this is an aspirational gu...
docs.google.com
July 5, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Two nice papers now added to my primer of what to read about theory in cognitive science ... docs.google.com/document/d/1... 1/
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
SIGdial has three fantastic keynotes this year & registration is open! 🎉
"Are there purely multi-turn 'dialog failures'?" by Dr Chris Welty
"Interactive Task Learning" by Prof Alex Lascarides
"Ecological Study of Language Acquisition, the role of natural conversation" by @fourtassi.bsky.social
"Are there purely multi-turn 'dialog failures'?" by Dr Chris Welty
"Interactive Task Learning" by Prof Alex Lascarides
"Ecological Study of Language Acquisition, the role of natural conversation" by @fourtassi.bsky.social
July 4, 2025 at 9:55 PM
SIGdial has three fantastic keynotes this year & registration is open! 🎉
"Are there purely multi-turn 'dialog failures'?" by Dr Chris Welty
"Interactive Task Learning" by Prof Alex Lascarides
"Ecological Study of Language Acquisition, the role of natural conversation" by @fourtassi.bsky.social
"Are there purely multi-turn 'dialog failures'?" by Dr Chris Welty
"Interactive Task Learning" by Prof Alex Lascarides
"Ecological Study of Language Acquisition, the role of natural conversation" by @fourtassi.bsky.social
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
My paper with @stellalourenco.bsky.social is now out in Science Advances!
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Fast and robust visual object recognition in young children
The visual recognition abilities of preschool children rival those of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models.
doi.org
July 2, 2025 at 7:38 PM
My paper with @stellalourenco.bsky.social is now out in Science Advances!
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
We found that children have robust object recognition abilities that surpass many ANNs. Models only outperformed kids when their training far exceeded what a child could experience in their lifetime
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
🚀 I’m excited to announce the launch of our new research chair DevAI&Speech (2025–2029), funded by the Grenoble AI Institute MIAI Cluster IA!
The project explores how human developmental processes can inspire more grounded and socially aware conversational AI (1/6).
The project explores how human developmental processes can inspire more grounded and socially aware conversational AI (1/6).
July 2, 2025 at 11:39 AM
🚀 I’m excited to announce the launch of our new research chair DevAI&Speech (2025–2029), funded by the Grenoble AI Institute MIAI Cluster IA!
The project explores how human developmental processes can inspire more grounded and socially aware conversational AI (1/6).
The project explores how human developmental processes can inspire more grounded and socially aware conversational AI (1/6).
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Applications are due July 15! Spread the word 🤓🙏🏻
🎊Fully funded PhD position on cooperative sustainability🌳
Are you curious about
🧒 developmental,
🌍 cross-cultural
🦧 species comparative
research on cooperative sustainability?
All info here or dm me with questions!
career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...
Please share! 🙏
Are you curious about
🧒 developmental,
🌍 cross-cultural
🦧 species comparative
research on cooperative sustainability?
All info here or dm me with questions!
career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...
Please share! 🙏
Career Opportunities: PhD position Cooperative Sustainability (14208)
career2.successfactors.eu
July 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Applications are due July 15! Spread the word 🤓🙏🏻
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
👏 Congratulations to Christian-G. Bénar, recipient of a 2024 ERC Advanced Grant!
He was awarded for his project OptiMEG: non-invasive recording of deep brain activity using mobile sensors optimized with intracerebral measures.
www.linkedin.com/posts/inserm...
#ERC #AdvancedGrant #amU #INS
He was awarded for his project OptiMEG: non-invasive recording of deep brain activity using mobile sensors optimized with intracerebral measures.
www.linkedin.com/posts/inserm...
#ERC #AdvancedGrant #amU #INS
Bravo à Christian-G. | Inserm | Cellule Europe
Bravo à Christian-G. Bénar, lauréat Inserm European Research Council (ERC) #AdvancedGrant 2024 !
👨🔬 Christian-George, chercheur à l’INS - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes à Marseille (Inserm/A...
www.linkedin.com
July 1, 2025 at 3:12 PM
👏 Congratulations to Christian-G. Bénar, recipient of a 2024 ERC Advanced Grant!
He was awarded for his project OptiMEG: non-invasive recording of deep brain activity using mobile sensors optimized with intracerebral measures.
www.linkedin.com/posts/inserm...
#ERC #AdvancedGrant #amU #INS
He was awarded for his project OptiMEG: non-invasive recording of deep brain activity using mobile sensors optimized with intracerebral measures.
www.linkedin.com/posts/inserm...
#ERC #AdvancedGrant #amU #INS
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
Constructing language: A framework for explaining acquisition. New paper published by @carorowland.bsky.social et al. doi.org/10.1016/j.ti....
Redirecting
doi.org
June 25, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Constructing language: A framework for explaining acquisition. New paper published by @carorowland.bsky.social et al. doi.org/10.1016/j.ti....
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
I'm hiring at least one post-doc! We're interested in creating language models that process language more like humans than mainstream LLMs do, through architectural modifications and interpretability-style steering. Express interest here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
NYU LLM + cognitive science post-doc interest form
Tal Linzen's group at NYU is hiring a post-doc! We're interested in creating language models that process language more like humans than mainstream LLMs do, through architectural modifications and int...
docs.google.com
June 21, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I'm hiring at least one post-doc! We're interested in creating language models that process language more like humans than mainstream LLMs do, through architectural modifications and interpretability-style steering. Express interest here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Join us for this interesting discussion today! I'll contribute to the conversation on automating meaning contingency by combining methods for communicative intent tagging (e.g., question–response pairs) with tools for quantifying coherence in dialogue
Don't miss our next ICIS webinar! June 19 2025.
Join leading researchers for a deep dive into cutting-edge work in infancy research.
infantstudies.org/icis-online-...
#InfantResearch #InfantStudies
Join leading researchers for a deep dive into cutting-edge work in infancy research.
infantstudies.org/icis-online-...
#InfantResearch #InfantStudies
June 19, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Join us for this interesting discussion today! I'll contribute to the conversation on automating meaning contingency by combining methods for communicative intent tagging (e.g., question–response pairs) with tools for quantifying coherence in dialogue
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
The @interspeech.bsky.social early registration deadline is coming up in a few days!
Want to learn how to analyze the inner workings of speech processing models? 🔍 Check out the programme for our tutorial:
interpretingdl.github.io/speech-inter... & sign up through the conference registration form!
Want to learn how to analyze the inner workings of speech processing models? 🔍 Check out the programme for our tutorial:
interpretingdl.github.io/speech-inter... & sign up through the conference registration form!
Interpretability Techniques for Speech Models — Tutorial @ Interspeech 2025
interpretingdl.github.io
June 13, 2025 at 5:18 AM
The @interspeech.bsky.social early registration deadline is coming up in a few days!
Want to learn how to analyze the inner workings of speech processing models? 🔍 Check out the programme for our tutorial:
interpretingdl.github.io/speech-inter... & sign up through the conference registration form!
Want to learn how to analyze the inner workings of speech processing models? 🔍 Check out the programme for our tutorial:
interpretingdl.github.io/speech-inter... & sign up through the conference registration form!
Reposted by Abdellah Fourtassi
The first paper that discovered the spectral structure in whale codas is available here:
osf.io/preprints/os...
osf.io/preprints/os...
June 12, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The first paper that discovered the spectral structure in whale codas is available here:
osf.io/preprints/os...
osf.io/preprints/os...