Meaning & use
NLP
Last updated
Meanings
abbreviationuncountablecomputing
Natural language processing: the field of computer science that teaches machines to read, understand and produce human language.
Grammar: Said as three letters and used without an article: she works in NLP.
Patterns
- work in NLP
- an NLP model
Our team uses NLP to sort customer emails by topic.
Voice assistants rely on NLP to understand what you say.
He is studying NLP at university and wants to build better chatbots.
abbreviationuncountable
Neuro-linguistic programming: a set of self-help and coaching methods based on the idea that language and thought patterns can be changed to alter behavior.
Grammar: Used without an article; its scientific support is disputed.
Patterns
- an NLP practitioner
- train in NLP
She trained in NLP to become a life coach.
Researchers have found little evidence that NLP techniques work as claimed.
The seminar promised to teach us NLP methods for building confidence.
Common combinations
- NLP model
- The NLP model can translate short sentences instantly.
- NLP tools
- Journalists use NLP tools to scan thousands of documents.
- NLP research
- NLP research has advanced rapidly in the last decade.
- NLP practitioner
- The NLP practitioner offered a weekend course.
- NLP techniques
- The coach explained a few NLP techniques for handling stress.
Synonyms and how they differ
- computational linguistics
- This is the academic study of language using computers and is often more theoretical, while NLP stresses building working language tools.
- text mining
- Text mining focuses on finding patterns in large amounts of text, which is only one part of the wider NLP field.
- language technology
- This is a broad everyday phrase for tools that handle speech and text, while NLP is the specific technical name.
Word family
- natural language noun
- human language, as opposed to computer code
- linguistics noun
- the scientific study of language
- programming noun
- writing instructions for a computer
Commonly confused: NLP or NLU?
NLP vs NLU
NLU means natural language understanding, which is a sub-area of NLP focused on working out meaning rather than all language tasks.
Practice
A developer says, "We use NLP so our app can understand typed questions." What does NLP most likely mean here?
Choose one answer.
In software, NLP stands for natural language processing, which lets computers handle human language. Neuro-linguistic programming is tempting but belongs to coaching and therapy, not app development.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “NLP”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.