Miscellaneous Courses

This course introduces key concepts and methods in Natural Language Processing (NLP), the subfield of data science and artificial intelligence that deals with computer interaction with human language. The course covers 1) The definition of NLP, and its relationship to data science, artificial intelligence, and other subfields therein, 2) Historical thought and development in NLP as well as recent breakthroughs in NLP enabled by artificial intelligence, and 3) Select methods and use cases for NLP, focused mainly on business contexts. The course will also briefly introduce learners to award-winning IBM Watson NLP tools, which make the discussed technologies accessible to non-technical users. Upon completion of the course, learners will feel comfortable describing what NLP is, how it has evolved from historical precedents to contemporary developments, and several specific methods and use cases for NLP technologies in organizational settings. Learners will leave this course well-prepared for more applied and technical courses on NLP.