Azure’s Language Understanding service, commonly known as LUIS, provides custom models for natural language understanding. This service supports prebuilt domain-specific models such as Calendar, Music, or Home Automation, and it also allows users to build their own custom models particular to their requirements. Bots or applications can use LUIS to interpret user commands, making it quite suitable for applications requiring conversational AI.
2. Azure Text Analytics
The Azure Text Analytics service provides a suite of natural language processing functions. These include sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, key phrase extraction, and language detection. The models used for these functions are pre-trained, making this service a good choice for those not interested in machine learning model training.
Here’s an example of how to use Azure Text Analytics API for sentiment analysis:
import requests
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
def authenticate_client():
ta_credential = AzureKeyCredential(“<your-text-analysis-service-key>”)
text_analytics_client = TextAnalyticsClient(
endpoint=”<your-text-analysis-service-endpoint>”,
credential=ta_credential)
return text_analytics_client
client = authenticate_client()
def sentiment_analysis_example(client):
documents = [“I am feeling great today!”]
response = client.analyze_sentiment(documents=documents)[0]
print(“Document Sentiment: {}”.format(response.sentiment))
print(“Overall scores: positive={0:.2f}; neutral={1:.2f}; negative={2:.2f} \n”.format(
response.sentiment_scores.positive,
response.sentiment_scores.neutral,
response.sentiment_scores.negative,
))
sentiment_analysis_example(client)
3. Azure Translator Text
For applications requiring multi-lingual support, Azure Translator Text is the go-to service. This service supports real-time text translation across more than 60 languages. It can be used in applications such as chatbots, websites, mobile apps, and any other application that requires language translation.
4. Azure Speech Service
Azure Speech Service is tailored for applications that deal with spoken language. It provides functionalities like speech-to-text, text-to-speech, speech translation, and speaker recognition. It’s ideal for applications such as transcription services, voice assistants, and other speech-enabled business applications.
5. Azure QnA Maker
For creating a question and answer bot with a knowledge base extracted from your content, Azure QnA Maker is the service of choice. It’s best suited for FAQ bots and other situations where the user is expected to ask direct, factual questions.
6. Azure Bot Service
The Azure Bot Service provides an integrated environment for bot development. It comes with out-of-the-box templates, a testing framework, and channels to connect your bot with users on various platforms. Since it can be integrated with LUIS and QnA Maker, it’s best suited for creating conversational bots.
To select the right Azure language analysis service, take into consideration what type of language (spoken or written) your application will process, the required level of customization, and the specific tasks you expect the service to perform. For instance, for building a multi-lingual chatbot, you might use a combination of Azure Bot Service, LUIS, and Translator Text, but for building a transcription service, you’d use the Azure Speech service.
Practice Test
True or False: The Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS) is used to extract key phrases and detect sentiment from the text.
- Answer: False
Explanation: The LUIS is used to build conversational AI applications that can understand natural language. To extract key phrases and detect sentiment, the Text Analytics API is used.
Which Azure service is ideal for creating conversational experiences for multiple channels such as websites and applications?
- a. Azure Bot Service
- b. Azure QnA Maker
- c. Azure Machine Learning
- d. Azure Text Analytics
Answer: a. Azure Bot Service
Explanation: Azure Bot Service provides an integrated environment that is purpose-built for bot development, enabling you to build, connect, test, deploy, and manage bots—all from one place.
True or False: Microsoft Translator Text API provides the ability to easily conduct machine translation tasks with simple REST API calls.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Microsoft Translator Text API is a cloud-based automatic translation service supporting multiple languages that reach more than 95% of world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Which Azure service should you choose to convert spoken language into written text?
- a. Text Analytics API
- b. Cognitive Speech Services API
- c. Translator Text API
- d. Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS)
Answer: b. Cognitive Speech Services API
Explanation: Cognitive Speech Services API provides various services including speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and speech translation.
True or False: Azure QnA Maker is the best service to build, train, and publish a simple question and answer bot based on FAQ URLs, structured documents, product manuals or editorial content.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Azure QnA Maker is a cloud-based API service that lets you create a conversational question-and-answer layer over your existing data.
Which Azure service is most suitable for sentiment analysis and key phrase extraction?
- a. Text Analytics API
- b. Cognitive Speech Services API
- c. Translator Text API
- d. Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS)
Answer: a. Text Analytics API
Explanation: Text Analytics API is a cloud-based service that provides advanced natural language processing over raw text.
True or False: Azure Machine Learning service is specifically designed for language understanding tasks.
- Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Machine Learning service is a general-purpose service for all machine learning tasks. For language understanding tasks, specifically, Azure provides the Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS).
Which service is not suitable for a language analysis solution?
- a. Text Analytics API
- b. Translator Text API
- c. Azure Machine Learning
- d. Azure Web App Service
Answer: d. Azure Web App Service
Explanation: Azure Web App Service is used for hosting web applications, REST APIs, and mobile back ends, not for language analysis.
True or False: QnA Maker can be used to build a bot that can answer questions based on a predefined set of FAQs.
- Answer: True
Explanation: Azure QnA Maker is a cloud-based API service that lets you create a conversational question-and-answer layer over your existing data.
Which of the following services could be used to add real-time translation to your application?
- a. Text Analytics API
- b. Translator Text API
- c. Azure Machine Learning
- d. Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS)
Answer: b. Translator Text API
Explanation: Translator Text API provides real-time translation between multiple languages in your applications, websites, tools, or any solution requiring multi-language support.
Interview Questions
Which Azure service is optimal for real-time language detection and translation?
Azure Cognitive Services Translator is the optimal service for real-time language detection and translation.
What Azure service should be used for analysing text inputs and inferring sentiments or intent?
For analysing textual inputs for sentiments, intents or key phrases, you should use Azure Text Analytics API.
Which machine learning technology does Microsoft Azure provide to develop models capable of understanding language-based data?
Microsoft Azure provides the service called Azure Machine Learning for developing models capable of understanding language-based data.
For high-volume, cloud-based text translation, which Azure Service should be used?
Azure Cognitive Services Translator can be used for high-volume, cloud-based text translation.
Which Azure service is best suited for content moderation of user-generated content?
Azure Content Moderator, a Cognitive Services product, is specially designed for content moderation of user-generated content.
What Azure service can be used for extracting meaningful information from unstructured text?
Azure Text Analytics API can be used for extracting key phrases, entities, sentiments and more from unstructured text.
Can Azure Cognitive Services be used to provide speech-to-text capabilities in a language analysis solution?
Yes, Azure Cognitive Services includes a Speech Service that offers speech-to-text capabilities which can be used in a language analysis solution.
What is the purpose of the Language Understanding Intelligence Service (LUIS) in Azure?
Azure’s LUIS is used to build and deploy machine learning models that can understand and execute user commands based on natural language inputs.
In terms of language analysis, when would you use Azure Bot services?
Azure Bot Services should be used when building, testing, deploying, and managing AI-powered interactive bots that are capable of natural language interactions with users.
Can Azure Search be used for language analysis in incorporated applications?
Yes, Azure Search includes powerful language analysis features such as scoring, relevancy tuning and linguistic analysis, which can be used in applications.
What Azure service can convert text into lifelike speech for language analysis solutions?
Azure’s Text to Speech, a part of the Speech Service under Cognitive Services, can convert text into natural sounding speech for language analysis solutions.
Which service would you use in Azure to recognize and identify a person based on their voice?
Azure Speaker Recognition, a feature of Azure’s Cognitive Services Speech Service, can be used to recognize and identify a person based on their voice.
Which Azure services can be combined to create an end-to-end voice assistant solution?
Azure Bot Service and Azure’s Cognitive Services (Speech Service, Text Analytics, and Language Understanding) can be combined to create an end-to-end voice assistant.
Can Azure Cognitive Services APIs understand user emotions from speech or text data?
Yes, Sentiment Analysis, a feature of Azure Text Analytics, can understand the sentiment or emotions expressed in the text data.
What Azure service can interpret commands in the user’s natural language allowing an application to understand the user’s intent?
Azure’s Language Understanding service (LUIS) interprets the user’s natural language, allowing applications to understand the user’s intent.