Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Candlefocus EditorDespite being related to, NLP is distinct from natural language understanding (NLU), which involves natural language understanding algorithms that can interpret and infer intent from sentences. NLP usually follows NLU in a system to create meaningful outputs from natural language input.
Essentially, NLP is used whenever machines must interpret, manipulate, or generate human language. It is used for tasks such as text-to-speech, summarizing text, question answering, and machine translation—that is, translating a sentence or passage from one language to another. In addition, NLP models can be used to identify the sentiment of a text or to detect the topics discussed in a paragraph.
NLP relies on techniques from a variety of areas, including linguistics, computer science, and mathematics. It is largely powered by Machine Learning algorithms and deep learning models, and the rules it uses are derived from the linguistic structure of the language they are applied to.
Applications of NLP are widespread, ranging from customer service agents to voice search, predictive text, and digital assistants. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way humans interact with machines, and is already being used in a variety of fields such as healthcare, finance, law, and research.
As a field, NLP is ever-evolving and relies heavily on data to train and improve models. It is also an interdisciplinary field, where insights from linguistics, psychology, social science, neuroscience, computer science, and mathematics are used to better understand and model human language. With advances in technology, the potential of NLP is rapidly growing and we are sure to see even more exciting applications in the near future.