Natural Language Processing (NLP) is an area of artificial intelligence (AI) which focuses on the interactions between a computer and humans using natural language. NLP is an interdisciplinary field of research that combines computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, psychology and neurobiology.


The goal of natural language processing

The main goal of natural language processing is to enable computers to understand and generate natural language, allowing them to interact with humans in a more natural way. It is used in a variety of applications such as machine translation, text summarization, automatic question answering, text classification, sentiment analysis, information extraction, dialogue systems and more.

NLP works by breaking down a text into smaller components, such as words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. These components are then analyzed and interpreted by the computer, allowing it to understand the meaning of the text. The computer can then generate a response or an action based on the meaning of the text.

To illustrate how NLP works, let’s look at a simple example. Say a user types the sentence “What is the weather like today?” into a chatbot. The chatbot would then analyze the sentence, figure out the meaning, and respond with the current weather conditions.


The diagram below provides a visual representation of the NLP process.

What is Natural Language Processing - Workflow
As you can see, NLP is a complex process and requires a lot of research and development in order to achieve the desired results.

Conclusion

NLP is an interdisciplinary field that combines computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, psychology and neurobiology to enable computers to understand and generate natural language. It is used in a variety of applications, such as machine translation, text summarization, automatic question answering, text classification, sentiment analysis, information extraction, dialogue systems and more. There are a number of resources available to learn more about NLP, and the diagram above gives a visual representation of the NLP process.


If you are looking to learn about Natural Language Processing, look no further! In this series of articles, you will learn the basics of NLP and how to apply these techniques in your own projects. Don’t miss out on this excellent opportunity to expand your skillset!

How to do NLP, Episode 1

How to transform an open-source data for NLP training

How to do NLP, Episode 2

Construct and train NLP models

How to do NLP, Episode 3

Setting up a conversation flow