Natural Language Processing

Explore technological applications of linguistics

Discover how computers analyze, interpret and generate human language. At UB, natural language processing (NLP) combines insights from linguistics, computer science and artificial intelligence to improve communication between people and technology.

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Great for students interested in linguistics, language technology, artificial intelligence, cognitive science or computational approaches to language.

What is natural language processing?

Natural language processing is the study of how computers understand and work with human language. It brings together linguistic theory and computational methods to solve real-world challenges such as machine translation, speech recognition, text analysis and conversational AI.

Linguistics provides the foundation for many NLP systems by explaining how language is structured, how meaning is conveyed and how people communicate.

Interested in AI and language?

Natural language processing draws on many areas of linguistics, including syntax, semantics, phonetics and language acquisition. Students gain a deeper understanding of language while exploring how those insights power today's technologies.

>>Explore our MS in AI and Natural Language Processing Program

How research happens at UB

Faculty and students explore computational approaches to language while drawing on expertise across linguistics. Research includes language modeling, speech technologies, language documentation, grammar, cognition and the ways humans and machines process language.

Because natural language processing is inherently interdisciplinary, students often collaborate with researchers in computer science, cognitive science and artificial intelligence across UB.

Faculty in this area

Students interested in natural language processing can work with faculty whose research connects linguistics, cognition and computational approaches to language.

Research interests include syntax, formal grammar, computational linguistics and language modeling.

Research interests include phonetics, speech technology, language documentation and computational approaches to speech.

linguistics, language processing, cognitive modeling and natural language processing.

Why this area matters

Natural language processing shapes many of the technologies people use every day, from search engines and voice assistants to translation tools and AI-powered applications. By combining linguistic knowledge with computational methods, researchers help create technologies that communicate more accurately, naturally and effectively.

Students interested in this field develop analytical, computational and problem-solving skills that prepare them for careers in artificial intelligence, language technology, software development, data science and academic research.

Get involved

Interested in natural language processing at UB?