Digital vocal assistants are akin to a parlour trick. What can seem like an all-powerful computer able to comprehend and respond to human conversation is simply a regurgitation of data. Natural language processing, where artificial intelligence meets linguistics, seeks to go further.
NLP advocates envisage a world in which screens are replaced by speech and computers understand direct commands. If AI can understand and generate language, then NLP replaces call centre workers, content moderators, search engines and writers.
Optimism runs high. A survey by Gradient Flow found that NLP funding rose 30 per cent year over year for a third of companies questioned. That is feeding into rising valuations for NLP start-ups.
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