Getting Started

Natural language processing (NLP) is the field of understanding human language using computers. It involves the analysis and of large volumes of natural language data using computers to glean meaning and value for consumption in real-world applications. While NLP has been around since the 1950s, there has been tremendous growth in practical applications in the area, due to recent advances in machine learning (ML) and deep learning. The majority of this book will focus on various real-world applications of NLP, such as text classification, and sub-tasks of NLP, such as Named Entity Recognition (NER), with a particular emphasis on deep learning approaches. In this chapter, we will first introduce the basic concepts and terms in NLP. Following this, we will discuss some of the currently used applications that leverage NLP.