In the context of NLP, what does the term "tokens" refer to?

In the context of Natural Language Processing (NLP), "tokens" refer to smaller units derived from text. Tokenization is the process that involves splitting a piece of text into its constituent elements, commonly words or phrases, that can be further analyzed or processed. This is a fundamental step in NLP tasks because it allows models to interpret and understand textual input in a structured way.

Tokens can be as simple as individual words, but they might also include punctuation marks or even multi-word expressions, depending on the tokenization strategy used. By breaking down text into these units, NLP systems can perform various operations such as sentiment analysis, text classification, or machine translation more effectively.

Understanding tokens and their role in processing textual data is essential for anyone working in the field of NLP, as it directly impacts the performance of models and algorithms that analyze language.