What is natural language processing and why does it matter?

Natural language processing is a branch of AI that helps computers understand and work with human language. It powers everything from email spam filters that recognize unwanted messages to translation tools that convert between languages.

Natural language processing, or NLP, is the technology that lets computers understand human language as you speak or write it. Before NLP, computers needed very specific commands in computer code. NLP changed that by teaching machines to read between the lines, understand context, and recognize meaning. This is what makes modern AI possible — chatbots understanding your questions, translation tools converting between languages, and voice assistants hearing your voice.