Imagine a situation where you have to interact with an acquaintance or a business associate from another country. What do you think can be the biggest challenge in communication? Well, we know it's the language. Unless you understand each other's language, communication can be tough and you probably need to use some translating apps or tools to communicate. However, when an interpreter steps into the scene, things can go really smooth.

The same analogy can be applied to interactions between a human and computer. Humans speak in a language that computers don't innately understand. To interact with a computer, we need to use an input device like the keyboard, that converts our inputs into binary codes (0 and 1) – the language a computer understands.

However, communication with a computer in "our" language is a different ball game altogether, and this is where Natural Language Processing (NLP) can make a difference!

What is Natural Language Processing

Natural Language Processing is a technology that is all about making computers understand the language that you and I speak. It is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and is responsible for computers today that listen to and respond to voice commands and reply in a language that we understand (think Siri and Google Home!). In fact, the entire concept of voice search is powered by NLP.

NLP technology works by converting voice/audio into text and the text is then parsed or analyzed using definite set of algorithms to understand the context. Depending on this analysis, the computer determines the commands to be executed accordingly.

How Natural Language Processing Can Benefit Enterprises Today

Here are 5 key applications of Natural Language Processing for the new age enterprises. Let's look at them one by one.

1] Text Classification

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Text classification refers to the process of classifying content into pre-defined categories. It helps in organizing unstructured data and give it a definite structure. This becomes really significant when it comes to the enterprise data, which is largely unstructured. Classifying and organizing it makes it ready for data analysis through which relevant insights from the data is found. Hence, text classification is very usefulwhen it comes to the analysis of organizational data.

2] Sentiment Analysis

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Sentiment Analysis is the process of data mining that is involved with the analysis of the sentiment behind a piece of text or content. One of the key applications of NLP technology, it is also referred to as opinion mining and is useful in analyzing subjective text, such as social media feed or product reviews. How much is a brand favoured by people? Are people being positively influenced by an ad campaign? The use of sentiment analysis can help organizations identify the general user opinion about their products and services by analyzing relevant data from various sources.

3] Chatbots

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The new age chatbot as we see it today is a result of the application of NLP technology. Gone are the days when chatbots used to struggle to bring relevant answers to user queries. Today, you have chatbots powered by NLP and AI that are capable of performing actions for the users. So, instead of talking to a person, you can instruct a chatbot to cancel or even modify your tickets (yes, that's possible!). Today, chatbots have emerged as a great way for brands to stay connected to users and resolve their queries and issues, and you see them everywhere – websites, apps, and platforms.

4] Speech Recognition

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Mankind has been working on the process of voice recognition for the past several years, and this has only witnessed major breakthroughs in the recent past, thanks to Natural Language Processing. Today, speech recognition is a highly accurate technology that is efficient in decoding our voices, and this technology has found many applications.

When it comes to an enterprise search software like 3RDi Search, speech recognition can work wonder in saving time for the users and helping them find the most relevant results without the need to type a single letter. This has the potential to take the user experience to an all new level.

5] Insights from the Market

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Understanding the market and what your users want is very important for businesses today in order to stay ahead in the competition. What is the potential demand for a product in the market? Is the product something that a brand’s target audience is waiting for? Natural Language Processing is a technology that serves as a smart Market Expert that helps enterprises to understand the market and identify people who are likely to have an interest for the product.

Also, NLP technology can derive insights on the kind of ad campaigns that will work for a product or brand, by analyzing the user behaviour and analyzing social media data. All of this information can be of extreme value to an enterprise that wants to create a name for itself in the highly competitive market.

Before we sign off, here's an infographics that showcases the potential for Natural Language Processing for businesses today.