One-hot encoding is a simple yet foundational method in NLP that converts categorical data, like words, into numerical format.
It represents each word with a binary vector, where only one position is 'hot' (1) and the rest remain 'cold' (0).
One-hot encoding is used to transform text data for NLP tasks such as sentiment analysis before feeding it into machine learning algorithms or deep neural networks.
While one-hot encoding has limitations, it serves as an entry point to more advanced NLP techniques and provides valuable insight into language interpretation by machines.