@inproceedings{f-p-dossou-aidasso-2025-towards,
    title = "Towards Open-Ended Discovery for Low-Resource {NLP}",
    author = {F. P. Dossou, Bonaventure  and
      A{\"i}dasso, Henri},
    editor = "Noidea, Noidea",
    booktitle = "Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Uncertainty-Aware NLP (UncertaiNLP 2025)",
    month = nov,
    year = "2025",
    address = "Suzhou, China",
    publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
    url = "https://preview.aclanthology.org/ingest-emnlp/2025.uncertainlp-main.24/",
    pages = "287--297",
    ISBN = "979-8-89176-349-4",
    abstract = "Natural language processing (NLP) for low-resource languages remains fundamentally constrained by the lack of textual corpora, standardized orthographies, and scalable annotation pipelines. While recent advances in large language models have improved cross-lingual transfer, they remain inaccessible to underrepresented communities due to their reliance on massive, pre-collected data and centralized infrastructure. In this position paper, we argue for a paradigm shift toward open-ended, interactive language discovery, where AI systems learn new languages dynamically through dialogue rather than static datasets. We contend that the future of language technology, particularly for low-resource and under-documented languages, must move beyond static data collection pipelines toward interactive, uncertainty-driven discovery, where learning emerges dynamically from human-machine collaboration instead of being limited to pre-existing datasets. We propose a framework grounded in joint human-machine uncertainty, combining epistemic uncertainty from the model with hesitation cues and confidence signals from human speakers to guide interaction, query selection, and memory retention. This paper is a call to action: we advocate a rethinking of how AI engages with human knowledge in under-documented languages, moving from extractive data collection toward participatory, co-adaptive learning processes that respect and empower communities while discovering and preserving the world{'}s linguistic diversity. This vision aligns with principles of human-centered AI and participatory design, emphasizing interactive, cooperative model building between AI systems and speakers."
}