Foreword

I first met Hannes in 2006 when we started different post-graduate degrees in the same department. He quickly became known for his work leveraging the union of machine learning and electrical engineering and, in particular, a strong commitment to having a positive world impact. Throughout his career, this commitment has guided each company and project he has touched, and it was by following this internal compass that he connected with Hobson and Cole, who share similar passion for projects with a strong positive impact.

When approached to write this foreword, it was this passion for the application of machine learning (ML) for good that persuaded me. My personal journey in machine learning research was similarly guided by a strong desire to have a positive impact on the world. My path led me to develop algorithms for multi-resolution modeling ecological data for species distributions in order to optimize conservation and survey goals. I have since been determined to continue working in areas where I can improve lives and experiences through the application of machine learning.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Voltaire?

Whether you attribute these words to Voltaire or Uncle Ben, they hold as true today as ever, though perhaps in this age we could rephrase to say, “With great access to data comes great responsibility.” We trust companies with our data in the hope that it is used to improve our lives. We allow our emails to be scanned to help us compose more grammatically correct emails; snippets of our daily lives on social media are studied and used to inject advertisements into our feeds. Our phones and homes respond to our words, sometimes when we are not even talking to them. Even our news preferences are monitored so that our interests, opinions, and beliefs are indulged. What is at the heart of all these powerful technologies?

The answer is natural language processing. In this book you will learn both the theory and practical skills needed to go beyond merely understanding the inner workings of these systems, and start creating your own algorithms or models. Fundamental computer science concepts are seamlessly translated into a solid foundation for the approaches and practices that follow. Taking the reader on a clear and well-narrated tour through the core methodologies of natural language processing, the authors begin with tried and true methods, such as TF-IDF, before taking a shallow but deep (yes, I made a pun) dive into deep neural networks for NLP.

Language is the foundation upon which we build our shared sense of humanity. We communicate not just facts, but emotions; through language we acquire knowledge outside of our realm of experience, and build understanding through sharing those experiences. You have the opportunity to develop a solid understanding, not just of the mechanics of NLP, but the opportunities to generate impactful systems that may one day understand humankind through our language. The technology of NLP has great potential for misuse, but also great potential for good. Through sharing their knowledge, via this book, the authors hope to tip us towards a brighter future.

DR. ARWEN GRIFFIOEN

SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST - RESEARCH

ZENDESK