Natural Language Processing in Action

7 Getting words in order with convolutional neural networks (CNNs)

This chapter covers

• Using neural networks for NLP
• Finding meaning in word patterns
• Building a CNN
• Vectorizing natural language text in a way that suits neural networks
• Training a CNN
• Classifying the sentiment of novel text

Language’s true power isn’t in the words themselves, but in the spaces between the words, in the order and combination of words. Sometimes meaning is hidden beneath the words, in the intent and emotion that formed that particular combination of words. Understanding the intent beneath the words is a critical skill for an empathetic, emotionally intelligent listener or reader of natural language, be it human or machine.^[1] Just as in thought and ideas, it’s ...