ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we present applications of Natural Language Generation (NLG) that we believe are among the most novel and exciting of the last few years. In general, NLG endows a software application with the ability to present information to the user via natural language (NL). As for any task involving information presentation, two orthogonal dimensions need to be considered: the purpose for which the information is presented, and the way it is presented. To us, the most far reaching NLG applications of today try to help the user acquire information that is of high value to the individual, but also more in general, to society: hence, we focus on applications of NLG in education and health care. Across the world, and especially in the more industrialized countries, there is a keen interest in using technology to support both education and health care, and to assess whether and how technology can improve the outcomes of both. Technology is also seen as a tool to help level the playing field, addressing educational and health disparities in disadvantaged groups, and in a larger context, in poorer areas of the world. The type of system we will discuss has the potential to contribute to better learning and better health in actual users.
