NLP and LLM – what do they mean, and what's the difference?

LLM and NLP are often used as synonyms, but they're two different things. Here's a simple explanation of both — and what the difference means in practice.

Let's start with a basic explanation of both terms before diving into the differences.

LLM – Large Language Models

Large language models (LLMs) are AI models trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate human language. They can interpret, predict and produce text that closely resembles natural language, and are used for everything from answering questions to translating and summarising.

• Understands complex language patterns and nuance.
• Flexible: the same model can handle many different tasks.
• Can be augmented with your own knowledge to become specialised for your industry.

NLP – Natural Language Processing

NLP is the broader field of research within computer science and linguistics concerned with the interaction between computers and human language. The goal is systems that can understand, interpret and respond to language in a meaningful way — everything from simple text analysis to deep language comprehension.

• Automates language tasks such as text analysis, speech recognition and translation.
• Extracts insights from large volumes of text.
• Creates more natural interfaces between humans and systems.

The differences

• Scope: LLMs are a subset of NLP. NLP is the broader field.
• Functionality: LLMs focus on understanding and generating text; NLP also covers analysis, recognition and translation.
• Complexity: LLMs require significantly more data and compute power than traditional NLP systems.
• Use cases: LLMs are best suited when deep language understanding is needed; NLP is used broadly, from text mining to sentiment analysis.

Final thoughts

ZyndraAI combines both: language models to understand and formulate answers, and NLP technology to interpret how customers actually write. Together, they create an AI agent that understands the question and answers based on your own knowledge.