This book provides an overview of the recent advances in representation learning theory, algorithms, and applications for natural language processing (NLP), ranging from word embeddings to pre-trained language models. It is divided into four parts. Part I presents the representation learning techniques for multiple language entries, including words, sentences and documents, as well as pre-training techniques. Part II then introduces the related representation techniques to NLP, including graphs, cross-modal entries, and robustness. Part III then introduces the representation techniques for the knowledge that are closely related to NLP, including entity-based world knowledge, sememe-based linguistic knowledge, legal domain knowledge and biomedical domain knowledge. Lastly, Part IV discusses the remaining challenges and future research directions.

The theories and algorithms of representation learning presented can also benefit other related domains such as machine learning, social network analysis, semantic Web, information retrieval, data mining and computational biology. This book is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, researchers, lecturers, and industrial engineers, as well as anyone interested in representation learning and natural language processing.

As compared to the first edition, the second edition (1) provides a more detailed introduction to representation learning in Chapter 1; (2) adds four new chapters to introduce pre-trained language models, robust representation learning, legal knowledge representation learning and biomedical knowledge representation learning; (3) updates recent advances in representation learning in all chapters; and (4) corrects some errors in the first edition. The new contents will be approximately 50%+ compared to the first edition.

This is an open access book.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the representation learning techniques for natural language processing Presents a self-contained reference resource with a rich blend of theory, algorithms and applications Covers from word embedding to pre-trained language models This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access

Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.