Deb Roy: The birth of a word

[@Gosain.abhi2010]

This is the most knowledgable talk i have ever watched. Whole new level to big data and analytics. Marvellous efforts to collect data for 2 years and efficiently analysis the whole story - how words(language) been learned by a toddler. Amazing, deserves applause.

[@Willwowlol]

Really thought i was trippin out at 6:30

[@OrcaSpace]

reminded me of a scene from Mr. Robot when Elliot did not sleep for a long time he started to see same thing.

[@loslucky]

glitch in the Matrix ;)

[@sammclone3967]

Thought I was watching Michael J. Fox

[@SycosenMerihem]

I didn't see anything, what are you talking about bruh?

[@ericaramirez8900]

Willwowlol i thought it was the app crashing lolllll

[@sherrynestyak433]

I used this info to teach my daughter to talk… She is 2,5, multilingual and has an insane vocabulary. Thank you MIT and thank you Deb Roy!!!

[@maliaraee]

Sherry Nestyak how did you implement these concepts ?

[@haipengli4769]

That's almost 10 years ago. Imagine what governments and big tech companies are capable of now.

[@polostor]

That is absolutely breathtaking study..I have to say I have underestimated this talk, I had the opportunity to see it few years ago, but I was like "not worth it" but yesterday friends encouraged me to do it and I have to say I regret that I thought it was not worth watching, because it was [more then worth watching]. Thank you TED, Thank you mr. Roy.

[@authorKurtFrenier]

Still one of the most impressive TED talks. AND... Crucial to understand the impact of tv on social media...

[@makishamthorn1776]

This TedTalk is both informative as well as heartwarming. Roy's recorded data will no doubt benefit our advancing development and will be especially important to his family's future generations.

[@werecow2003]

Cool, I'm doing my thesis work on situated language learning, and Deb Roy has been one of my main influences. Nice to see this field get some TED time.

[@fernandocortes1187]

3:00 Patterns language acquisition in social environments 4:20 blossoming of speech form 5:50 503 Words baby learned in a period of at 2 years old

[@werecow2003]

@cheesebubba Roy's work is actually quite interesting. He's compiled by far the largest database on situated language use, which is extremely valuable for research in linguistics, especially since there is very little data out there that provides any context in which the language is used. What he's doing is pretty awesome to me as someone doing work in the field. He's also developed some of the first AI models for situated language learning (CELL being the first and the most well known).

[@RoughTake]

Saw this when it was first published on TED Talks website many years ago now. The most deserved standing ovation of any talk I have seen over a decade later. His company would later go to talks with FB, but ultimately sell to Twitter.

[@jbernopril]

I am very inspired watching this talk and I am already imagining how this amazing group would work on a baby growing in a multilingual environment. I have 3 kids and I just watched how they adjusted themselves into speaking 3 languages and thought how wonderful this would have been if they were recorded and analyzed too. 🤣🤣🤣

[@osenseijedi]

NSA be : heavy breathing.... Joke apart, this is all really interesting. I only wish it won't be misused

[@gregoriolobato3033]

Its a really interesting point of view. I think that it totaly will misused in wraping peoples minds.

[@joeche7461]

@@gregoriolobato3033 agree

[@MarkArandjus]

The way the footage was put into a 3D projection is amazing!

[@trihoang6842]

How did his research team organize and present data in such a clear and beautiful way? Are there any programs out there that can create the same visual effects?

[@wilgus28]

This doesn't really investigate what language is or how people learn language. Unless I'm missing something, it's just recording feedback loops that children use to get the phonemes just right. It seems like the son already had the meaning of 'water' he was just sounding it out until he got the word just right. 'Gaga' can mean water just as much as 'water' means water.

[@YY4Me133]

Fascinating stuff. According to my mother, I was speaking in complete sentences by the time I was 9 months old. I was skeptical until I heard a friend's baby speak almost an entire sentence ("I good girl") at 2 1/2 months. I noticed that this baby did what I do - look at people's mouths, rather than their eyes, when they speak - and wonder if there's a connection.

[@RewanNabeel1]

This is incredible ! I liked the idea that everything we say or hear really matters , really make a difference .. An excellent talk (Y)

[@giftn9531]

5:15 the peace on this man's face as he relives those precious moments...

[@Melamori]

"Wow" Now that is devotion to science and research! Amazing piece of work! I cannot wait for a published paper. This is phenomenal!

[@iCyberZombie1]

This is one of the most interesting TED talk!!! 😤

[@saraaghil1830]

Foysol Rahman can you explain it to me

[@Kotesu]

Fascinating, but also a little unsettling. Seems all to useful for engineering or controlling social dynamics within a society or market.

[@gabrielciaffone]

This is my favorite TED talk

[@mcesar0901]

Hey excuse me, I didn't understand the video because I am not very good with english listening. Can you explain me? Sorry if I mind you

You can try hearing it with subtitle captions turned on.

[@nofutureface]

this is amazing. if anything it shows the true strength tv/media have over our lives. unplug and lets have those conversations without the tv playing middle man and take our minds back.

[@Elvyne963]

I still don't get what the lesson in there, and how it can help us understand better how language is learnt. This is not a c.ritique, but an honest question.

[@FromSaturntoMars-genZ]

Huh same here

[@demetergrasseater]

By analyzing the progression of utterances from initial word formation/acquisition to the final, correct reproduction we can see how words begin to form and eventually become fully spoken words. If you want to know HOW LANGUAGE IS LEARNED as in, the big question HOW, good luck on that, we've been trying for years and still don't know. You need a team of linguists, neurologists, and psychologists all working together just to come up with vague theories about it. But those theories already exist. This talk was about specifically watching language formation as it happens.

[@gregoriolobato3033]

I think how you get to learn words in first place, and how the tv or social media can make people talk about what they want. If you get bombarded from every channel, social media, and some friends talks about what they saw, you will be probably talking and thinking about that and not thinking about they dont want you to think, and other stuff like showing you things you didnt know they exist and now that the influencers, or somebody that has a lot o repercusion shows you, now you feel the urge to buy it. You should see some videos of Noam Chomsky about social media. You know what you see, what you dont see doesnt exist and now a lot of what you see comes from social media and TV.

[@gregoriolobato3033]

Ah, and something else... Its not only what you see or dont see, it how you think of feel about what now you know. I mean, If I wanted to do someting that is good for me and bad for the rest of the country all I would have to do is to show only the part of the facts like is good for me and hide the part that is not. Like Im running for senator and via social media I only show the things I did good, and not the things that went bad, and the oposite whit my enemy. This goes to politics, economics, cientific papers, new in general, products, all that you could think about. You could watch the documentary on Netflix "The great Hack" about the social media and how they do this. Its really, really, scary and amazing.

[@abhishekkumarkushwaha8183]

today I got to ask him a question it was a tough one but he answered very well.

[@Kojak7snap]

Amazing research, but I hope the practice of blanketing a home with cameras doesn't become widespread. It really would be an invasion of privacy, in my opinion. Small children do not have the ability to understand this, and frequently have no power to change such things if they do disapprove. Any legal recourse by Child And Family Services to prevent such an occurrence, obversely, might easily lend itself to abusive interpretation.

[@kasbahlover]

Speachless.

[@kianapouyat2226]

This study is actually so biased. Of course, his son is going to be an early talker and have a good vocabulary like he is being fed words, always around people, and has professors as parents. The researcher is going to want to see trends and prove his ideas to benefit himself, so he is going to try and support his conclusions as best as possible. The study would be super beneficial with relating mass media and social environments plus linguistics but I don't really think it matters for children learning words. Of course, if you say a word a lot, the child is going to learn it. Like where else do you say bye besides at the door, come on. I think he should have done the study with a family who didn't know why they were being recorded to provide genuine data. Roy seems like he wants to be special or do something and is scraping anything he can together to do so.

[@Truthiness231]

Fantastic talk, definitely one of my favorites to date. Data gathering/sorting/displaying is one of the most important things for technology right now. Keep up the good work, MIT ^.^

[@cmd2tuts]

Anyone remember that movie 'Deja-vu'? 8:00 This guy's data is freaking beautiful... I love graphs now.

[@condemned75]

I'm doing an English degree through the OU, but want a broader understanding of how we learn language (I also teach). Good luck with your Psycology classes.

[@bioroid09]

@myassishappy it looked like everyone was having a seizure...

[@liwymi]

Really says something about education and the way we learn. Teachers should be learning and adapting to us to help us learn, not the other way around. Student centred education. That's my theory anyway. I would love to see this technology and research applied in the classroom!!

[@Grayhome]

4:55 for awesomeness.

[@swapanjain892]

Wo!!the best ted talk ever!!

[@joshuasy10]

This is truely amazing... its like a time machine!

[@roidroid]

@Bc2astThese little sociology experiments like this are just to help us understand more about ourselves. It's interesting, for us anyway. it doesn't effect you personally in any way. Well other than the fact that people around you who are learning things from this are going to be getting smarter. No biggy.

[@MrZeus7]

@xjustamem0ryx Not really a coincidence, just the nature of the data. The first graph was based on where the baby was, and in general areas it gradually curved upward or downward. In the second graph, their position doesn't mean anything. I'm sure they could put it in a way so that it looks similar to the sloping of the first graph. For that they'd probably have to make each "stack" the same area (i.e., not based on how long the tv show or whatever is).

[@soupisgreat]

TED always strikes me with amazement with every lecture.

[@acq128]

love how this is shared in the same way as described in the actual clip

[@Bfavrestarr415]

One of the coolest things I've seen on TED. Amazing!

[@avedic]

8:15 jesus christ! how cool is that? they sure went all out in analyzing all this data. that 3d flythrough is so cool...

[@manojch87]

@hmspinaforethisisspa he said he recorded 8 hr/day if u listen carefully once agaun u can hear it

[@jeanmarcoslubczyk9763]

This was awesome!! Great job!

[@elchafa337]

I didn't really get the point he was trying to express with this talk, anyone care to explain it in a few words for me please?

[@BionicDance]

This would be worth it just for the 3D fly-through of the house, but the language part is pretty awesome! TED FTW! :)

[@mariamaldawoud3478]

fantastic talk and influential i like the concept of the video and the way he talks and convince us with the idea and i think we must really apply this in reality.

[@mesoelleithy6672]

this is the most beautiful talk i have ever watch

[@MISTERsimplelogic]

Let me share why I think this is highly important: An atom behave in 1 way when it`s alone, however it behaves completely different when around some more atoms... So, a person my have a pattern of behavior when alone, or in a small group (and that has been researched a lot) however the influence of huge groups on behavior is something that might reveal in new patterns, different than what we know in the small scale, only with social internet info, we can examine this... remarkable !

[@abhimanyushekhawat2626]

This is the most remarkable Ted Talk I have ever watched.

[@KingWak]

great speech. and great visualized. finally true sience back on TED really a idea worth spreading.

[@TomFynn]

Finally a TED talk with technology and engineering in it again.

[@suatt38]

He definitely deserved those applause at the end

[@Degotelo]

That was amazing.

[@avedic]

One of the coolest talks I've ever seen. Wow indeed...

[@Sabu632]

absolutely profound and will change the world forever.

[@rock3tcatU233]

Finally a great talk from TED on an interesting subject in a long time...

[@frankzhou2899]

Who thought it was their devices' fault starting from 6:40? And then reloaded and the same thing happend?

[@XxDollarBill]

TED TALK OF THE YEAR BY FAR...

[@sufian2k6]

How can ANYONE dislike this?? Where did the 14 dislikes come from?? 14 people who have a phobia of water!

[@ampianoman24]

without a doubt among the most incredible things i have ever seen.

[@DayTripperEqualsHomo]

Is anyone elses youtube being all stuttery like the video jumping and looping :S

[@cmd2tuts]

Anyone remember that movie 'Deja-vu'? 8:00

[@Livelovelifeeleni]

the miracle of life is truly beautiful

[@eagleeye1975]

BEST TED TALK EVER!!!!!

[@ngarcia257]

Wow! Mind-blowing! Love TED! Keep on!

[@Bryonato]

truly amazing

[@goronska]

I personally stood up and clapped in front of my computer. Chapeau bas, Mr. Roy!

[@marvinhacutina6491]

Thank you for this video

[@tm1729]

this is called original research. what a commitment!

[@Creatiopoetic]

great lecture on a very interesting topic

[@usman3437]

It is less about the birth of a word but how words can be used as "keywords" through social or channel medias making people a mindset about certain things and this and that you know the stuff. This is about data analysis and how social media or the authority can provide a feasible context to an individual for certain things sure.

[@abinshakshaji6101]

Can someone summarize this for me. I didn't got understand what he was trying to say. Pardon my language problem

[@elperroreggae]

16:38 onwards he sums it up

[@avedic]

The subtitles aren't made by anyone. they analyze raw audio data and convert it to text. pretty fucking powerful if you think about it. yes, it is quite buggy and no where near perfect. But, in 5 years, it will be perfect. And 5 years ago, wasn't even a possibility. So...quit complaining. :P

[@Chairman0Mao]

I think this is interesting, because as an English speaker in Japan I find myself breaking my own language in order to communicate with people who are eager to speak english but use it as a second language.

[@akeemtaiwo]

I love data but its never been so beautiful until now!

[@vinniechan]

A very very elaborated way of doing experiment: :)

[@Quisyfrottesypique]

4: 20, 17:20, 18:08. Wow!

[@juju101]

just amazing, take a moment to look at your life now.. i can't put a word on this feeling i have from this talk.. big step in evolution taking place right now!!

[@jonarooni]

@BeatAngel Didn't they record the house for 3 years?

[@ozzylanas240]

Truly interesting to watch.

[@streetstaruk]

@KladionicaCity exactly why im scared. when does any new breaking technology like this, that has such an insight into how we act, speak, live and generally BE, not end up in the wrong hands for a perverse use?

[@rhymes116]

this man is brilliant.

[@babybunnyberry]

@thecritiquestudio Big Brother was born in 1984 [1949] :)

[@SJMin]

Anybody know how they created those 3d effects? any tools ?

[@MrHapraker]

@OldSchoolSkill That sounds more like torture than research.

[@SantaFe-yc9ip]

Very cool! ... I love it. Imagine than thoughts and conversations can do!! ... if Everyone projecting the same thought " Powerful

[@Bravadas]

outstanding

[@ummemaria531]

wow that is really amazing ted

[@mayracorazon]

The moment the child is saying Gaga 😍🥰😭🙌🏽

[@saquibali4090]

Twitter bought bluefin labs after watching this episode

[@BrianMcInnis87]

It'll be so adorable to see the moment when Deb learns how to use the word 'data'.

[@michaeltolsma7717]

4:42 gaga to water.

[@bluhtheng]

so steady..

[@TheForce74]

Now combine this technology with 'Prism' and 'Tempora' and you know, NSA, GCHQ, etc. know, that I just wrote this and they have the capabilities to never forget and work with it.

[@Smudgie]

Wonderful!

[@megannyang]

IM NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING!!

[@TheFartoholic]

Finally an idea worth spreading.

[@TheScienceFoundation]

The magic starts at 4:55