Nicola Ferro - 2024 Tony Kent Memorial Award lecture  

2. 15 - 2.30 Introductions and welcome

2.30 - 3.30 Professor Ferro's presentation with Q&A

Title:
Growing up in Cranfield, Maturing in Generative IR

Abstract:
One of the most heard sentences in our field is "Information Retrieval is strongly rooted in experimentation” since development of new methodologies has always been partnered by corresponding evaluation approaches. Evaluation itself is a driver of new approaches, and large-scale evaluation initiatives such as CLEF (Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum) have been steering research in the field by developing rigorous evaluation approaches, building resources and experimental collections, nurturing our community. This is where I grew up as a researcher who found his intellectual home in the many incarnations of the "Cranfield paradigm". However, in the last few years, the rise of generative AI is challenging IR from its foundations, including experimental evaluation. This is happening at an unprecedented pace, and it is here to stay, in one form or another. So, now my perspective is to mature as a researcher in a world of generative IR and "generative evaluation".


In this talk, I will try to reflect on this radical change of perspective and the challenges and opportunities it may open to us.