Using Computational Linguistics to Help Solve Government Challenges
Keith J. Miller
June 2011
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Computational linguistics expert Keith J. Miller serves as project leader for The MITRE Challenge, which encourages innovation in technologies the federal government needs. |
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Keith J. Miller didn't start out his career hoping to focus on computational linguistics. But the MITRE principal artificial intelligence engineer has had a lifelong passion for language. In college, he was certified to teach high school French. During high school, he dabbled with computer programming. In researching graduate schools, he discovered the field of computational linguistics—and the ability to bring those worlds together.
"I discovered computers when I was in high school—it was something extra to do after school," Miller says. It wasn't long before he discovered computational linguistics—the science of the structure of human language as applied to computers.
He quickly became hooked and went on to earn a master's degree in applied linguistics and a Ph.D. in computational linguistics. Miller saw intriguing possibilities in the emerging science of machine translation, which, in 1993 when he earned his master's degree, "was just on the cusp of making some major breakthroughs and being considered something other than science fiction," he says.
Miller, who has been at MITRE nearly 15 years, now serves as project leader for The MITRE Challenge, an ongoing, open competition to encourage innovation in technologies of interest to the federal government. The first of a series of planned challenges focuses on multicultural name matching, which involves vetting names in database records or in text to maximize retrieval of relevant information and to reduce or eliminate redundancies. The technology can be used to verify eligibility for government benefits, to identify survivors and victims in disaster-relief operations, and to gauge the accuracy of travel watchlists.
Miller says this work builds on much of what he's learned at MITRE and in his previous jobs.
Machine Translation: No Longer a Niche Technology
"I spent many years evaluating machine translation technology. After the Sept. 11 attacks, there was renewed interest in the field of multicultural name matching—specifically projects that required me to bring together the work I'd been doing in evaluation with my previous work in multicultural name matching," he says.
With a now-urgent need in government and multicultural name matching expertise, Miller and several other computational linguists at MITRE came together several years ago to form the MITRE Identity Matching Lab. The lab specializes in maximizing the effectiveness of government identity matching and resolution efforts through assessment and a combination of commercial and government off-the-shelf tools. As Miller and his colleagues built up MITRE's capabilities in this area, he was approached by Richard Byrne, senior vice president and general manager of MITRE's Command and Control Center, with the idea for The MITRE Challenge.
"Rich Byrne came to us and said, you have great methodology and tools—couldn't we do something like the Netflix Prize challenge, but for name matching?" Miller says. (The Netflix Prize was a challenge issued by the DVD rental company for improvements to the accuracy of its online predictions about customers' movie preferences. People were invited to submit their own algorithms, and a $1 million prize was awarded to the winner in 2009.)
Anyone can join the challenge, and Miller says it will continue "until we stop seeing progress" in the submissions. "It's exciting because it's really bringing Rich's vision of soliciting solutions from the wider community to fruition," he says.
So far, more than 125 teams are registered for The MITRE Challenge. "One team has submitted 77 algorithms," he says. Unlike the Netflix challenge, MITRE's contest doesn't come with a cash prize, but the winner or winners will have the satisfaction of helping to solve some very complex problems for the government, he adds. The winners will also be invited to present their technology at a technical exchange meeting for MITRE and government participants.
A Focus on Creativity
Asked what keeps him at MITRE, Miller cites the company's welcoming environment for new ideas.
"I think the people who are the most successful here are creative," he says. "I tell people—when they're first starting at MITRE—first define your role. Once you're successful doing that, you can branch out from there."
In his personal time, Miller keeps the creative juices flowing by pursuing his interests in acting, yoga, and hiking.
"While I was doing my dissertation, I had to give up on doing anything with the theater. At MITRE I have the ability to balance work with the rest of my life," he says. He performs in two or three local productions each year. "With a supportive environment and a flexible schedule, I'm fortunate to be able to do this."
—by Maria S. Lee
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