Method and apparatus for converting utterance representations into actions in a conversational system
First Claim
1. A computer method for converting an utterance representation into a response, the computer method comprising the steps of:
- generating a goal derived from the utterance representation;
analyzing the utterance representation based on the goal and a set of goal-directed rules to identify ambiguous information in the utterance representation; and
generating a response based on the analysis of the utterance representation.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A conversation manager processes a spoken utterance from a user of a computer that is directed to an application program hosted on the computer. The conversation manager includes a reasoning facility which accesses goal-directed rules stored in a rules base (e.g., database). The reasoning facility also has access to a conversational record that includes a record of previous utterances and a semantic analysis for each utterance. The reasoning facility processes a representation of the utterance by using the goal-directed rules. The reasoning facility uses means-end analysis to determine the proper rules to execute, and thus the script calls to make to achieve the goal of processing the utterance. While processing the utterance, the reasoning facility attempts to resolve any ambiguities in the representation of the utterance and to fill in any missing information that is needed to achieve its goal. The reasoning facility then generates a response to the utterance, which can be a question to the user or a command to the application program based on the utterance.
50 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A computer method for converting an utterance representation into a response, the computer method comprising the steps of:
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generating a goal derived from the utterance representation;
analyzing the utterance representation based on the goal and a set of goal-directed rules to identify ambiguous information in the utterance representation; and
generating a response based on the analysis of the utterance representation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for converting an utterance representation into a response, comprising:
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a database storing a set of goal-directed rules;
a digital processor coupled to the database, the digital processor hosting and executing a reasoning facility that is configured to;
generate a goal derived from the utterance representation;
analyze the utterance representation based on the goal and the set of goal-directed rules in the database to identify ambiguous information in the utterance representation; and
generate a response based on the analysis of the utterance representation. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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17. A computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium for converting an utterance representation into a response; and
a set of computer program instructions embodied on the computer useable medium, including instructions to;
generate a goal derived from the utterance representation;
analyze the utterance representation based on the goal and a set of goal-directed rules to identify ambiguous information in the utterance representation; and
generate a response based on the analysis of the utterance representation.
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25. An apparatus for converting an utterance representation into a response, comprising:
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means for generating a goal derived from the utterance representation;
means for analyzing the utterance representation based on the goal and a set of goal-directed rules to identify ambiguous information in the utterance representation; and
means for generating a response based on the analysis of the utterance representation.
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26. A computer program propagated signal product comprising:
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a computer usable propagated medium for converting an utterance representation into a response; and
a set of computer program instructions embodied on the computer usable propagated medium, including instructions to;
generate a goal derived from the utterance representation;
analyze the utterance representation based on the goal and a set of goal-directed rules to identify ambiguous information in the utterance representation; and
generate a response based on the analysis of the utterance representation.
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Specification