What is Natural Language Processing (NLP)? What Are Natural Language Processing Uses?

What is Natural Language Processing (NLP) What are the Uses of Natural Language Processing
What is Natural Language Processing (NLP) What are the Uses of Natural Language Processing

Language, which enables people to understand each other and express themselves, is an important and indispensable communication tool. There are over 7.000 languages ​​in the world and each language has its own differences. On the other hand, the development of technology has made it necessary for people to agree not only with each other, but also with machines. It is very important to strengthen the relationship between human and computer world, which is an important part of human life. At this point, NLP (Natural Language Processing Technology), which makes human and artificial intelligence better understandable, fills the gap between human communication and computer understanding. So what is natural language processing?

What is Natural Language Processing (NLP)?

“What is natural language processing?” To answer the question, it is necessary to know the difference between natural languages ​​and machine languages. Languages ​​used by people such as Turkish, English, Russian and German are defined as natural languages. Computers, on the other hand, use programming languages ​​known as machine languages. Programming languages ​​are not made up of words, but thousands of different combinations of the numbers "0" and "1". Natural Language Processing is defined as a sub-branch of artificial intelligence, which enables the connection between human and computer by transforming human language into a format that the computer can understand. Artificial intelligence uses Natural Language Processing technique to enable the computer to understand and interpret human language.

Bringing together computational linguistics and computer science, NLP uses two main techniques: syntax and semantic analysis. The arrangement of the words in a sentence in accordance with the grammar is called syntax. Semantic analysis, on the other hand, is the study of the meanings of words by grouping them. Natural Language Processing technology analyzes the structures and meanings of sentences using these two techniques. However, analyzing spoken and written language is a complex and difficult process.

Natural Language Processing, regardless of terms, processes the language used in daily life and transforms spoken words into structured data. These data are usually sources of information such as text, images and videos. NLP uses special algorithms to process and understand this data.

What Are Natural Language Processing Uses?

Natural Language Processing, which has a multidisciplinary structure where artificial intelligence, data science, computer science and linguistics come together, has a wide range of uses. It can be used in many sectors where the human factor is at the forefront, such as banking, insurance, health, advertising, public relations, publishing. The following examples can be given for Natural Language Processing application areas:

  • Machine Translation: With applications such as Google Translate, Yandex Translate, translations can be made from one language to another using NLP techniques.
  • Voice Recognition: Voice signals can be made meaningful with NLP, as in Apple Siri, Google Assistant applications.
  • Spell Check: A text written using any language can be grammar checked with NLP technology.
  • Text Summarization: Summary information can be extracted from long texts that are difficult to read with NLP.
  • Question Answering: Customer questions of a shopping site, bank or company can be answered with NLP.

Benefits of NLP Technology

The benefits and possibilities of NLP technology are quite extensive. The main benefits of Natural Language Processing technology can be listed as follows:

  • You can edit the CVs of people who applied to your company for a job with NLP. For example, those who graduated from X university or know the Z language can be prioritized during the job application process.
  • You can make your mails more organized with the help of NLP. You can keep unwanted e-mails out of the inbox, and you can prepare separate folders for e-mails that are important to you.
  • Most of the data on the Internet is created in human language. Data analysis can be done with NLP. Emotion analysis can become possible, especially with the emoji or words customers use about the business.
  • Efficiency can be increased by improving the documentation processes of companies. At the same time, the accuracy of documents can be improved thanks to NLP.
  • Companies can use chatbots developed with NLP for customer support.