NLP technologies help machines understand the nuances of a language. (Representational)

As one of the fastest growing digital economies in the world, India is home to over 467 million social media users. However, since over 90 percent Indians speak one or more native languages, enabling every user to explore and express online in a language of their comfort is the primary step towards digital inclusion.

Innovators of today are often challenged by how they can provide a truly immersive and language agnostic experience to users in a tech-driven economy. How can they bring together speakers of different native languages? Here’s where technologies such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) come into play.

As a branch of artificial intelligence (AI), NLP technologies help machines understand the nuances of a language – both text and voice – in a manner similar to how the human mind decodes – which is by aligning to the context, sentiment and the intent of the message creator. By harnessing NLP, machines can navigate through huge volumes of data in an efficient manner and analyze sentiments.

Moreover, through NLP, platforms can enable language translations of a message in real-time in a manner that retains the intent and emotion of the original message. NLP allows platforms to derive an optimal translation output by enabling creators to post content in a language of their choice, and consumers to consume it in their own language – thus stimulating seamless engagement between creators and consumers in their respective native languages. This leads to user gratification and promotes a sticky user journey on platforms that leverage NLP.

As Indian innovators build tech products that will be consumed by the larger world, language will soon cease to be a barrier. NLP will play a crucial role in driving digitization and enabling people to express, connect, and engage online in their native language.

The ‘inclusive’ approach of platforms from India will champion digital empowerment, and democratize the voice of billions in this ‘techade’.