Sentence Simplification Capabilities of Transfer-Based Models

Sanja Štajner, Kim Cheng Sheang, Horacio Saggion

[AAAI-22] AI for Social Impact Track
Abstract: According to the official adult literacy report conducted in 24 highly-developed countries, more than 50% adults, on average, can only understand basic vocabulary, short sentences, and basic syntactic constructions. Everyday information found in news articles is thus inaccessible to many people, impeding their social inclusion and informed decision-making. Systems for automatic sentence simplification aim to provide scalable solution to this problem. In this paper, we propose new state-of-the-art sentence simplification systems for English and Spanish, and specifications for expert evaluation that are in accordance with well-established easy-to-read guidelines. We conduct expert evaluation of our new systems and the previous state-of-the-art systems for English and Spanish, and discuss strengths and weaknesses of each of them. Finally, we draw conclusions about the capabilities of the state-of-the-art sentence simplification systems and give some directions for future research.

Introduction Video

Sessions where this paper appears

  • Poster Session 2

    Fri, February 25 12:45 AM - 2:30 AM (+00:00)
    Red 6
    Add to Calendar

  • Poster Session 5

    Sat, February 26 12:45 AM - 2:30 AM (+00:00)
    Red 6
    Add to Calendar