Speaking and Interpreting: Do Language Models Construct an Identity?

In winter 2026, Jean-Philippe Magué, visiting researcher at CRIHN, will organize a lecture series on LLMs with four invited speakers.
The second session, “Speaking and Interpreting: Do Language Models Construct an Identity?”, will take place on Monday, February 16, 2026, from 3:30–5:00 pm (Montreal time), with Lynne Bowker (Translation, Université Laval), in hybrid format.

Session description:

All discourse production is socially situated, and all reception involves interpretation framed by social structures of meaning. LLMs perform precisely these operations: producing statements and interpreting others within interactions shaped by uses, norms, and social expectations. This lecture examines the nature of this social embeddedness: how can models be engaged in socially situated discursive practices?