Persona management system for communications

• US 20090313274A1
• Filed: 06/11/2008
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Urquhart, Ryan, Sampathkumar, Govndaraj, Chen, Li, Li, Yongcheng
• Granted Patent: US 9,141,689 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3344 using natural language analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/253 Grammatical analysis; Style critique
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/263 Language identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/279 Recognition of textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A system to apply persona styles to written communications. The system includes a communication analyzer and a modification engine coupled to the communication analyzer. The communication analyzer identifies an element of original content of a written communication and determines that the element of the original content of the written communication is incompatible with a selected persona style. The selected persona style defines a communication style. The modification engine modifies the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with a substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium to store a computer readable program that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform operations to apply persona styles to written communications, the operations comprising:

identify an element of original content of a written communication;

determine that the element of the original content of the written communication is incompatible with a selected persona style, wherein the selected persona style defines a communication style; and

modify the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with a substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to perform linguistic analysis on the original content of the written communication to identify a plurality of elements of the original content of the written communication.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to derive a context for the written communication from system properties and application configuration variables.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to propose the substitute element for replacement of the element of the original content for consideration by an author of the original content of the written communication.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to perform syntax analysis on the written communication with the substitute element to determine compliance with a plurality of syntax rules.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to select the persona style from a plurality of persona styles, wherein each persona style defines a unique communication style.

7. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to store the plurality of persona styles in a persona repository.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to store a sentence template, wherein the sentence template comprises a fill-in-the-blank sentence for completion by a user.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to store a set of rules, wherein the set of rules defines a modification process to modify the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with the substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the selected persona style comprises a randomly selected persona style, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to randomly select the persona style.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the selected persona style comprises a neutral persona style, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to modify the original content of the written communication according to a neutral persona style in response to a selection of an author to remain anonymous.

12. A system comprising:

a communication analyzer to identify an element of original content of a written communication and to determine that the element of the original content of the written communication is incompatible with a selected persona style, wherein the selected persona style defines a communication style; and

a modification engine coupled to the communication analyzer, the modification engine to modify the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with a substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the communication analyzer is further configured to perform linguistic analysis on the original content of the written communication to identify a plurality of elements of the original content of the written communication.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication analyzer is further configured to derive a context for the written communication from system properties and application configuration variables.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a syntax engine coupled to the communication analyzer, the syntax engine to perform syntax analysis on the written communication with the substitute element to determine compliance with a plurality of syntax rules.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the modification engine is further configured to propose the substitute element for replacement of the element of the original content for consideration by an author of the original content of the written communication.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a display device coupled to the modification engine, the display device to display a user interface and to display the proposal of the substitute element for replacement of the element of the original content for consideration to the author.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a persona repository to store a plurality of persona styles, wherein each persona style defines a unique communication style; and

a persona selector coupled to the persona repository, wherein the persona selector is configured to select the persona style from the plurality of persona styles.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a user interface coupled to the persona repository, the user interface to allow a user to store the plurality of persona styles in the persona repository.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a template builder coupled to the persona repository, the template builder to store a sentence template in the persona repository, wherein the sentence template comprises a fill-in-the-blank sentence for completion by a user.

21. The system of claim 19, further comprising a rule builder coupled to the persona repository, the rule builder to store a set of rules in the persona repository, wherein the set of rules defines a modification process to modify the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with the substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

22. The system of claim 18, further comprising a persona randomizer coupled to the persona selector, the persona randomizer to randomly select the persona style from the plurality of persona styles stored in the persona repository.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein the modification engine is further configured to modify the original content of the written communication according to a neutral persona style in response to a selection of an author to remain anonymous.

24. A method for applying persona styles to written communications, the method comprising:

identifying an element of original content of a written communication;

determining that the element of the original content of the written communication is incompatible with a selected persona style, wherein the selected persona style defines a communication style; and

modifying the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with a substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising performing syntax analysis on the written communication with the substitute element to determine compliance with a plurality of syntax rules

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising performing linguistic analysis on the original content of the written communication to identify a plurality of elements of the original content of the written communication.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising proposing the substitute element for replacement of the element of the original content for consideration by an author of the original content of the written communication.

28. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

storing a plurality of persona styles in a persona repository, wherein each persona style defines a unique communication style; and

selecting the persona style from the plurality of persona styles.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising storing a sentence template in the persona repository, wherein the sentence template comprises a fill-in-the-blank sentence for completion by a user.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising storing a set of rules in the persona repository, wherein the set of rules defines a modification process to modify the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with the substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising randomly selecting the persona style from the plurality of persona styles stored in the persona repository.

32. The method of claim 28, further comprising modifying the original content of the written communication according to a neutral persona style in response to a selection of an author to remain anonymous.

33. An apparatus for applying persona styles to written communications, the apparatus comprising:

means for performing linguistic analysis on original content of a written communication to identify a plurality of elements of the original content of the written communication;

means for determining that the element of the original content of the written communication is incompatible with a selected persona style, wherein the selected persona style defines a communication style; and

means for modifying the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with a substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising:

means for performing syntax analysis on the written communication with the substitute element to determine a compliance with a plurality of syntax rules;

means for proposing the substitute element for replacement of the element of the original content for consideration by an author of the original content of the written communication; and

means for selecting the persona style from a plurality of persona styles, wherein each persona style defines a unique communication style.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising:

means for displaying a user interface and the proposal of the substitute element for replacement of the element of the original content for consideration to the author;

means for storing the plurality of persona styles in a persona repository; and

means for storing a set of rules in the persona repository, wherein the set of rules defines a modification process to modify the original content of the written communication to replace the element of the original content with the substitute element that is compatible with the selected persona style.