Natural Language Processing – What is it and why care?

Everyone’s going gaga over AI today, specifically LLMs. But they should really be focusing on what drives LLMs: Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Why?

Natural Language Processing has been quietly reshaping the world for a few years and still doesn’t get the love it deserves. Not only is NLP a fundamental component of modern artificial intelligence, but it has quietly made its way into many different aspects of technology and society for years.

At its core – and put simply – NLP is the art of teaching machines to understand human language. It’s a field that combines linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence to enable computers to comprehend, interpret, and generate natural language. Large Language Models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, are built upon these principles, leveraging vast amounts of text data and sophisticated algorithms to understand and produce human-like language at an unprecedented scale.

Think about the last time you used a virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa. These digital helpers’ ability to understand your spoken commands and respond accordingly is a testament to the power of NLP. But these types of apps are just the tip of the iceberg.

NLP has the potential to revolutionize customer engagement, allowing businesses to provide more personalized, efficient, and effective interactions. It’s a game-changer, and companies that embrace this technology are well-positioned to gain a competitive edge.

Imagine this scenario: You’re a busy executive and need to book a flight. Instead of navigating through a maze of website menus or enduring long wait times on the phone, you simply fire up a chatbot on your company’s travel app. Powered by an LLM utilizing NLP, the chatbot understands your travel preferences, checks availability, and books the perfect flight and hotel – all in a matter of minutes. No more endless back-and-forth or frustrating misunderstandings.

This is the power of NLP in action – streamlining processes, reducing friction, and delivering a seamless customer experience. But NLP’s potential extends far beyond chatbots. Imagine how great it would be if your company could automatically analyze customer feedback, emails, and social media posts to gauge sentiment and identify potential issues before they escalate. Or imagine a world where customer service agents have access to a virtual assistant who can instantly comprehend complex queries, retrieve relevant information, and provide accurate responses—all in real-time.

These scenarios are no longer science fiction; they have been in place in one form or another for years, and they are now becoming more powerful with the addition of LLMs.

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