Construction Grammar and Artificial Intelligence
Katrien Beuls Paul Van Eecke
In this chapter, we argue that it is highly beneficial for the contemporary
construction grammarian to have a thorough understanding of the strong
relationship between the research fields of construction grammar and artificial
intelligence. We start by unravelling the historical links between the two
fields, showing that their relationship is rooted in a common attitude towards
human communication and language. We then discuss the first direction of
influence, focussing in particular on how insights and techniques from the
field of artificial intelligence play an important role in operationalising,
validating and scaling constructionist approaches to language. We then proceed
to the second direction of influence, highlighting the relevance of
construction grammar insights and analyses to the artificial intelligence
endeavour of building truly intelligent agents. We support our case with a
variety of illustrative examples and conclude that the further elaboration of
this relationship will play a key role in shaping the future of the field of
construction grammar.