My hosting experience of the LxAI workshop @NAACL24.

This blog details my experience as a co-chair at the LatinX in AI workshop at NAACL2024 and my experience on this event for the second time as co-chair. To know more about it continue reading below.

Mexico city, the Capitol building in the city center.

First of all, this is not my first time being at volunteer for promoting the Latinx in AI as Co-chair i was previously co-chair in 2022 and I actively participated as volunteer and assistaint in previous workshops as my bio shows. said that, I am thrilled reporting that this time the NAACL24 took part in Mexico city. for those who don’t know this is Latin America country located just next and below USA . Altought this kind of conference are well know for computacional linguist scientist all around the world, it is still unknow for most of the under-develop countries throught the south of America like my hometown country (PERU). Then supporting this kind of workshop give the newcommer in AI who are working in the intersection of linguistic the opportunity to connect with top scientist or individual to improve and fortunately get the chance to continue developing their skills (below the LatinX mission itself).

Latinx Mission

LatinX in AI (LXAI) bridges communities, academics, industry, and politicians working to further AI innovation and resources for LatinX individuals globally. We drive and support research, development, infrastructure, and mentoring programs to boost innovation and capabilities of LatinX professionals working in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science. —LatinX in AI.

Some of the photos during the lxnlp at NAACL2024 workshop.

1. Who is encourage to participate in the Workshop?

While everyone is welcome to participate in the workshop, access is selective, with Latinx individuals especially encouraged to apply. Don’t worry though - I’ll explain how you can attend the workshop, what requirements you need to meet, and how to access travel grants from both the workshop and NAACL if your budget is limited by travel and hotel costs.

On the other hand, being Latinx is not a strict requirement for participation. The workshop welcomes individual researchers, engineers working on AI, students, AI entrepreneurs, and practitioners who are currently living in Latin American countries (from Mexico through Colombia to Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil), including Spain and Caribbean islands such as Haiti and Cuba. It’s important to highlight that, as this is a scientific workshop, all researchers who identify as Latinx - including those who study, live, or were born in other countries but have Latinx heritage - are welcome. The event does not discriminate based on location, language, or nationality, typically people who you will find in this event are:

students
professors
developers
everyone.

photo of the peoplea who attended the last workshop.

2. What will you do at the Workshop?

As part of the main conference, this event is considered an affinity workshop, similar to those at NeurIPS (Announcing the NeurIPS 2023 Affinity Workshops). The workshop encourages marginalized researchers in the Machine Learning community to present their work and become active contributors to the NLP community. It provides an excellent networking opportunity for newcomers in AI, NLP, and research to interact with expert members, including top AI researchers from around the world.

From my personal experience, I had the opportunity to connect with Ph.D. students from prestigious universities like Harvard, MIT, and Berkeley. These connections led to valuable learning experiences, shared social networks, and deeper engagement in the NLP field. You’ll have unique opportunities to meet Latinx colleagues who are deeply involved in the field, and you might even encounter prominent AI researchers. Don’t be surprised if your favorite researcher asks about your work — just remember to ask for a photo at the end (unlike me, who forgot! 😄).

The workshop provides a valuable opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research in Latin America, hear presentations about recent publications, and connect with researchers and professors developing NLP applications for Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous Latin American languages. It’s an ideal setting to explore future research directions and network with fellow AI and language model enthusiasts.

3. How long does the workshop take?

The affinity workshops typically take one day before or during the NAACL conference, depending on the NAACL schedule agenda. These affinity groups include all the affinity workshop groups that take part at the same time and day; as well as the Latinx workshop, there are other workshops such as Black in AI, Queer in AI, and others, so you should expect many of these kinds of workshops at NAACL. However, not all happen every year, so please check if the particular workshop you’re interested in will take part in the conference you want to attend. In 2024 at NAACL, Latinx in AI came back after 2022, so we were happy to reorganize with this amazing team and people who are willing to collaborate to help the NLP Latinx community. This last event was particularly located in Mexico City, which was a perfect opportunity to encourage more new people from Latin America. My particular experience was virtually at NAACL and in-person at NeurIPS, and I can say that no virtual or hybrid experience is the same as in-person—the full day of the workshop is a really wonderful experience when you take part in person, meeting new people, talking with others, and experiencing the vibe of the city where the conference is located. For newcomers, I would suggest volunteering. Although it is only one day, there are many things that need help in the organization, such as assisting with reservations for newcomers or beginners in scientific conferences. Some attendees have language limitations, so this is also another area where you can help. Simply making the community more welcoming by connecting with individuals, gathering and sharing ideas, taking photos for our social media, translating, and other activities are good choices—you can ask the chairs for more specific roles.

The travel grant is a type of award for prospective papers or short research summaries written in paper format. This is an opportunity for young researchers who are looking to gain experience or share their findings. To apply, be prepared to write about your work in a short paper format of 2–3 pages, including references. I understand that this length may feel too brief to cover your entire research field. However, this is not a full paper submission for the conference. It will not be indexed as part of the conference proceedings (just in case you were wondering). For this reason, papers that have already been published recently in the field are also accepted for the workshop. You are also allowed to submit a summary or a paper that you plan to submit to another conference or intend to publish elsewhere. However, keep in mind that you must write your own manuscript and avoid resubmitting an existing paper or simply copying content, even if it is from your own authorship. Such practices are considered plagiarism, which is not tolerated in research and could lead to serious consequences. For more details, please refer to the submission requirements of Latinx in AI at NAACL papers or the Latinx in NLP submission guidelines.

To summarize, you need to write an abstract based on your current research that aligns with the field and purpose of the conference—in this case, NLP. All recent work applied to minority languages or recent studies in natural language processing are accepted. Last but not least, it is important to follow the Latinx template format and adhere to the best practices of conducting research. Abstracts are typically written in LaTeX format, and each image or table must follow its respective format, as well as the references. Needless to say, the abstract should present a coherent and well-described piece of research, including the methodology used. Once you submit, there will be a waiting period based on the deadline and schedule. Accepted abstracts are typically notified to the authors by email.

photo of the poster presentation and best paper(abstract) awards.

5. What will expect to do after submitting my abstract?

If your abstract (a kind of short paper) is accepted, then you will receive an invitation to present a poster at the Latinx in NLP workshop. The travel grant and a one-day stay will be covered, so you only need to follow the instructions to present your poster at the conference. From personal experience, I highly recommend creating a poster. This is one of the best ways to share your research with others, as it allows you to present your work on a single page using images, diagrams, tables, or other creative methods for better understanding.

okay,what if I want to attend but my abstract wasn’t accepted? If your abstract wasn’t accepted—whether due to writing issues or other factors—but you still want to attend the conference, there are other options. You can still register for the conference, cover your travel expenses, and attend the Latinx in AI workshop using your own budget. Alternatively, you can explore opportunities like applying to be a volunteer at the main NAACL conference(please consider early applications here). If accepted as a volunteer, you may receive travel grants and full registration coverage. Another option is to participate in other affinity workshops or attend the Latinx workshop if you are publishing in the NAACL conference. In this case, you can contact the workshop chairs via email or inquire at the check-in desk on the workshop day for last-minute registration.

6. what to do after the workshop?

Okay, until now, we’ve been talking about how to get into the workshop and what happens if you’ve already been accepted to present your research there. Let me tell you that the affinity workshop is just the beginning of the research journey—it’s not the main part of NAACL. In fact, it’s intended for individual researchers from marginalized groups who want to attend NAACL. In the following days, there’s so much more to explore. This is where the main conference truly begins, with tutorials, talks, presentations, and posters of highly rated accepted papers, along with gatherings with top AI researchers. You are highly(must) encouraged to attend these events to experience the latest discoveries and have the opportunity to meet scientists and AI engineers from research centers and AI industries. All the major tech companies are there to showcase their latest discoveries and the next steps they’re planning to develop. Typically, research precedes applications in technology, so this is the place where new frameworks and emerging fields are first presented.