SYSTEM AND METHOD TO ACQUIRE PARAPHRASES

• US 20110295591A1
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Fang, Ji, Kessler, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 9,672,204 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/247 Thesauruses; Synonyms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/289 Phrasal analysis, e.g. finite state techniques or chunking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/45 Example-based machine translation; Alignment

Abstract

An automatic paraphrase acquisition technique is provided. A common theme of the various embodiments described herein resides in careful design of simple tasks that can elicit the necessary information for the automated process. These tasks are performed quickly and inexpensively. By gathering the results produced, paraphrases can be generated automatically using the method and/or system.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring paraphrases for use in natural language processing applications, the method comprising:

receiving raw text as input;

sentence breaking the raw text into individual sentences;

providing the individual sentences and a corresponding survey to an annotating source, wherein the annotating source conducts the survey based on the individual sentences;

receiving results of the survey from the annotating source;

filtering the survey results;

proving the filtered survey results and a second survey to the annotating source, wherein the annotating source conducts the second survey based on the filtered results;

receiving results of the second survey from the annotating source; and

generating paraphrases based on the results of the second survey.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the raw text is provided by a database.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the providing the individual sentences and a survey is based on a script.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the filtering is based on a script.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the providing the filtered survey results and the second survey is based on a script.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the generating paraphrases comprises generating paraphrase pairs.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the generating paraphrases comprises generating paraphrases in a many-to-one mapping of paraphrases.

8. A system for acquiring paraphrases for use in natural language processing applications, the system comprising:

an input for raw text;

a processor operative to break the raw text into individual sentences, provide the individual sentences to an annotating source to conduct a survey based on the individual sentences, receive results of the survey, filter the results, provide the filtered results to the annotating source to conduct a second survey, receive results of the second survey, and generate paraphrases based on the results of the second survey; and

an output for the paraphrases.

9. The system as set forth in claim 8 further comprising a database for the raw text.

10. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the processor comprises a script to provide the individual sentence to the annotating device.

11. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the processor comprises a script to filter the results of the survey.

12. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the processer comprises a script to provide the filtered results to the annotating source.

13. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the processor is operative to generate paraphrase pairs.

14. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the processor is operative to generate paraphrases on a many-to-one mapping basis.

15. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the annotating source comprises a survey platform.

16. A system for acquiring paraphrases for use in natural language processing applications, the system comprising:

means for receiving raw text as input;

means for sentence breaking the raw text into individual sentences;

means for providing the individual sentences and a corresponding survey to an annotating source, wherein the annotating source conducts the survey based on the individual sentences;

means for receiving results of the survey from the annotating source;

means for filtering the survey results;

means for proving the filtered survey results and a second survey to the annotating source, wherein the annotating source conducts the second survey based on the filtered results;

means for receiving results of the second survey from the annotating source; and

means for generating paraphrases based on the results of the second survey.