Natural Language Processing (NLP) is rapidly becoming a requirement for application interfaces. Today, one can build a system that allows natural language text or speech input without knowing much more than a few API specs. From chatbots to search engine translation services to applications that scour social media posts looking for business opportunities or terror threats, Natural Language Understanding (NLU) is delivering value today.

On the output side of the interface, natural language generation (NLG) has advanced from the production of restricted-domain question-answering and simulation systems to the delivery of general purpose data- or model-driven narratives that are virtually indistinguishable from human-generated correspondence. From sports to stock reports, you’ve probably read a machine-generated report in the past year without realizing that the “author” was a machine.

Where do we go from here? It’s time to expand our definition of “natural language” to include the logical and physical context cues that we use in everyday communications to express emotions and intent unbounded by syntax and semantic constraints. 

In this webinar, we will look at emerging technologies to improve understanding by analyzing effect in gestures and language choices, and that improve engagement by delivering context-appropriate effective output.

Adrian Bowles

Founder, STORM Insights, Inc.

Adrian is an industry analyst and recovering academic, providing research and advisory services for buyers, sellers, and investors in emerging technology markets. His coverage areas include cognitive computing, big data / analytics, the Internet of things, and cloud computing. Adrian co-authored Cognitive Computing and Big Data Analytics (Wiley, 2015) and is currently writing a book on the business and societal impact of these emerging technologies. He has held executive positions at several consulting and analyst firms. Adrian also held academic appointments in computer science at Drexel University and SUNY-Binghamton, and adjunct faculty positions in the business schools at NYU and Boston College. He began his career with research and application development roles at IBM and GTE Laboratories. Adrian earned his BA in Psychology and MS in Computer Science from SUNY-Binghamton, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Northwestern University.