Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that combines computer science and linguistics to understand and process human language. It involves the development of algorithms and models that enable computers to analyze, generate, and interpret natural language, making it possible for machines to understand human communication. Researchers in computational linguistics work on various applications, such as natural language processing (NLP), which powers tools like chatbots and translation services. By studying the structure and meaning of language, they aim to improve how computers interact with people, enhancing tasks like sentiment analysis and speech recognition.