def METHOD_NAME(self, inputs):
    """
    Args:
        inputs: list, Each value corresponds to an input name of self._input_names
    Returns:
        results: dict, {name : numpy.array}
    """
    infer_inputs = []
    for idx, data in enumerate(inputs):
        data = np.array([[x.encode("utf-8")] for x in data], dtype=np.object_)
        infer_input = InferInput(self._input_names[idx], [len(data), 1], "BYTES")
        infer_input.set_data_from_numpy(data)
        infer_inputs.append(infer_input)
    results = self._client.infer(
        model_name=self._model_name,
        model_version=self._model_version,
        inputs=infer_inputs,
        outputs=self._outputs_req,
        client_timeout=self._response_wait_t,
    )
    results = {name: results.as_numpy(name) for name in self._output_names}
    return results