  The utility and power of Natural Language Processing (NLP) seems destined to
change our technological society in profound and fundamental ways. However
there are, to date, few accessible descriptions of the science of NLP that have
been written for a popular audience, or even for an audience of intelligent,
but uninitiated scientists. This paper aims to provide just such an overview.
In short, the objective of this article is to describe the purpose, procedures
and practical applications of NLP in a clear, balanced, and readable way. We
will examine the most recent literature describing the methods and processes of
NLP, analyze some of the challenges that researchers are faced with, and
briefly survey some of the current and future applications of this science to
IT research in general.
