Hi! I'm Abhilasha (/ɑ.bʰi.ˈla.ʃə/). I'm a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, working in the Language Technologies Institute. I am very fortunate to be advised by Eduard Hovy and Norman Sadeh.

My research goal is to develop machines that are capable of understanding language at a human-level, and therefore can be useful to a variety of users, in a variety of scenarios. I think a lot about how to estimate and improve model generalization in real-world situations, by ensuring models are capable of the kinds of reasoning necessary to understand natural language. This is also concerned with designing better NLP methodology: how to build high-quality datasets and evaluations that reflect meaningful progress towards language understanding. For more about my work, please see my publications list.

I am also interested in exploring how NLP can help effect social change. Through my work at the Usable Privacy Policy Project, I am engaged in a multi-disciplinary effort to empower internet users to take back control of their privacy.

Outside my research interests, I also care a lot about helping students who identify with a minoritized gender identity, and who are interested in getting started with, or furthering, research in natural language processing—feel free to email me! I would be particularly happy to be able to help students from less-privileged institutions.