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Concept dictionary

Natural Language Processing

Natural language processing is the field of computing concerned with analyzing, understanding, transforming, and generating human language.

Review state
Reviewed in POC
Freshness
Current
Version
2

Also called

  • Natural Language Processing
  • NLP

Remember it this wayNLP is the toolbox for working with human language.

In plain language

NLP includes tasks such as translation, search, classification, transcription, summarization, and text generation. Large language models are one family of methods used within this broader field.

Why it matters

The broader term helps teams avoid treating every language feature as a chatbot or LLM. Different language tasks can require different methods, evidence, and controls.

Example

An email system uses NLP to classify incoming messages by topic and route them to the correct team.

Common misconception

NLP does not imply that a system understands language in the full human sense, and not every NLP system generates text.

Related terms

Sources

Learn more

  • Explore language generation through [[large-language-model|Large Language Model]] and meaning-based comparison through [[embedding|Embedding]].

Reviewed in POC · last human review 2026-08-12 · content version 2 · visual version 1

Source and POC details

Source: learning-library/glossary/terms/natural-language-processing/term.md

Source hash: sha256:4bd154f9e01b3abf781ff4658aca1f466f1bc90cbb280e5befc401b16869c5a9

Media: POC-reviewed evidence; RS AI Learning Lab, Owned production asset.

Release: glossary-team-poc-0.5.5-2026-09-02 · not production approved