It’s an exciting time to work in natural language processing, as more and more organizations are exploring ways to use chatbots, digital assistants, and other NLP applications. This trend has been further accelerated by the Covid-19 epidemic, as the transition away from physical help desks and customer service departments has led companies to try new modes of interacting with customers. Thus, a familiarity with NLP approaches can be useful to software developers, data scientists, and other professionals in tech.
Professionals wishing to leverage their expertise in natural language processing to develop new approaches in this field may pursue a master’s degree or even a doctorate in computer science. In NLP and other areas, computer research scientists are in high demand; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they earn a median annual salary of $122,840 per year, and jobs in this field are expected to grow much faster than average over the next decade.