The large screen and small screen have mesmerized us with stories of humanlike robots and androids as well as AI-based machines that can predict future crimes. Once the stuff of science fiction, developments in AI and its related fields have resulted in these no longer being fanciful concepts.

In fact, we are using forms of this technology in our everyday lives probably without even being aware of it! Voice-operated GPS systems, digital assistants on smartphones, speech-to-text dictation software, customer service chatbots, and real-time voice-to-text closed captioning are all applications of AI. While we may take them for granted, they represent critical developments in AI and one of its branches in particular—natural language processing (NLP).

Language is a fundamental form of human intelligence, setting ours apart from all other forms of animal communication and allowing us to communicate with infinite variety. If humans find learning a language complex and time-consuming, can a machine be taught, not just the structure and rules of language, but also its subtleties, nuances, and inferences that seasoned speakers easily comprehend? NLP seeks to do just that.