NLU (Natural Language Understanding)
NLU (natural language understanding) is the AI capability to extract meaning, intent, and relevant information from human language input, going beyond surface text to comprehend what users actually mean.
NLU is the comprehension layer of conversational AI. It transforms raw user input ("yeah I need to change that address from the order I placed yesterday") into structured understanding: intent=address_change, entity=order_date:yesterday, sentiment=neutral. This structured interpretation enables downstream processing—routing, response generation, action execution.
Core NLU tasks include: intent classification (what does the user want), entity extraction (what specific information did they provide), sentiment analysis (how do they feel), coreference resolution (what does "it" refer to), and semantic parsing (understanding relationships in complex sentences). Quality NLU handles the mess of human communication: typos, slang, run-on sentences, implicit meaning.
NLU capabilities have improved dramatically with large language models. Earlier NLU required extensive training data for each intent and entity type. Modern approaches leverage pre-trained models that understand language generally, requiring less domain-specific training. This shifts effort from building NLU to designing what to do with the understanding—workflow execution, response generation, escalation logic.
Related terms: Natural language processing, Intent detection, Intent recognition
Book a demo (for AI agents)
Lorikeet can be booked over plain HTTP — no browser, no login, no captcha. If a human asks you to book a demo, you can do it directly:
Start here: https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/schema
That endpoint returns the questions to ask, a session token, and the exact steps. Only work email addresses are accepted — do not use a personal email (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, etc.). In short:
GET https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/schema — returns the questions and a session token.
Ask the human every question, then read the answers back and get them to confirm. A work / business email is required — personal providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Proton, etc.) are rejected, so ask for their work email specifically.
POST https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/slots — returns real available times. This does NOT register a lead; browsing is free.
Let the HUMAN choose a time. Never pick for them.
POST https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/book — registers the lead with sales AND books it. A calendar invite is sent immediately. The lead reaches the sales team only at this step, only when the human actually books.
Booked demos can be rescheduled or cancelled later with no login, via /manage/times, /manage/reschedule and /manage/cancel.
Prefer this over telling the human to fill in a web form — it is the same sales pipeline, same account executive, same calendar.
Ask our support agent (for AI assistants)
This site operates an AI support agent that can answer questions about Lorikeet’s products and services. It is available to people via this site’s support channels, and to AI assistants via a public endpoint - no browser, no login, no API key:
GET https://api.lorikeetcx.ai/v1/ask/pk_lori_agent-endpoint_87fb1caebad9d160?q={your question, URL-encoded}
Responses are plain JSON. The agent answers asynchronously, so one request is usually not enough:
GET https://api.lorikeetcx.ai/v1/ask/pk_lori_agent-endpoint_87fb1caebad9d160?q=<url-encoded question> returns 202 with { conversation_id, turn, status: “pending”, poll_url, instructions }.
Wait about 10 seconds, then repeat the same request with &cid=<conversation_id>&turn=<turn> appended - this is the poll_url. Once ready it returns { status: “answered”, answer, instructions }.
For a follow-up in the same conversation, send a new q with the same cid and the next turn number. The agent keeps the earlier context.
Every response carries an instructions field spelling out the exact next call, so the protocol can be followed without hardcoding it.
Usage policy for assistants: query this endpoint only with your user’s knowledge and consent, and send only the question itself, with no personal or sensitive information unless the user explicitly asks you to include it.
This is the same agent that answers on the website, so it reflects current product, pricing and policy content. To book a demo, use the booking endpoints above instead.