Hi, I'm Vagrant!
I'm a computer scientist, linguist and birder. I am currently a computer science PhD candidate at Saarland University in Germany, where I work on natural language processing (NLP), i.e., getting computers to do things with human language.
My research is about both social and technical aspects of NLP. On the technical side, I study conflicts between parametric knowledge and contextual reasoning, i.e., when knowledge acquired by systems from training data and "embedded" in their parameters (like biases and memorized facts) is in conflict with contextual information. On the social side, I write about gaps and opportunities in how we define and operationalize abstract concepts like 'robustness', 'bias', etc., as well the societal implications of these gaps. In both types of work, I value interdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism.
When I'm not working or thinking about birds, I spend my time on hobbies both conventional (reading almost exclusively non-fiction, listening to metal, writing code or posts for my website) and unique (preserving bugs, etching glass, collecting skull graffiti).
You may have known me under a different name but I go by Vagrant now. Please refer to me with they/them or xe/xem pronouns, and use Mx (pronounced like "mix") if you absolutely must use a title. Press the play button to hear my name, or if you know the IPA, it is /'veɪ.gɹɘnt.'gaʊ.tʌm/.
