Distributed dialoguing with an agent-oriented software architecture
First Claim
1. A method for natural language interpretation, for use with a backendapplication and with provided input token sequences, comprising the steps of:
- developing a first interpretation in response to a first input token sequence;
representing said first interpretation in a first object; and
developing a second interpretation in response to a second input token sequence, including the step of consulting the first interpretation represented in the first object,wherein said step of developing a second interpretation comprises the step of forwarding said second input token sequence and said first object toward an agent network,wherein said agent network comprises a plurality of agents arranged in a network, each of said agents having at least one interpretation policy having a policy condition and a policy action associated with the condition,wherein said step of developing a second interpretation comprises the step of each of said interpretation policies making a claim on at least part of said second token sequence if the condition of the interpretation policy is satisfied, and executing the associated policy action in response to determination that the claim is at least part of a winning claim,and wherein a particular one of said interpretation policies includes a policy condition, the satisfaction of which depends on said first interpretation.
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Abstract
Roughly described, a natural language interpretation system develops its interpretation in response to user input, and also in dependence upon the interpretation, rather than the claims, made in response to prior input. In policy conditions, an agent can check whether any specified agent contributed to the prior interpretation and adjust its claiming of the present input accordingly. In policy actions, a policy or agent can reference the prior interpretation both for conditioning the policy'"'"'s or agent'"'"'s contribution to the current interpretation, and also for incorporating part or all of the prior interpretation in the policy'"'"'s or agent'"'"'s contribution to the current interpretation. The resulting system thus implements dialoging in a distributed manner as part of the various agents in the interpretation network, and allows much more flexibility to better respond in accordance with users'"'"' expectations.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for natural language interpretation, for use with a backend
application and with provided input token sequences, comprising the steps of: -
developing a first interpretation in response to a first input token sequence; representing said first interpretation in a first object; and developing a second interpretation in response to a second input token sequence, including the step of consulting the first interpretation represented in the first object, wherein said step of developing a second interpretation comprises the step of forwarding said second input token sequence and said first object toward an agent network, wherein said agent network comprises a plurality of agents arranged in a network, each of said agents having at least one interpretation policy having a policy condition and a policy action associated with the condition, wherein said step of developing a second interpretation comprises the step of each of said interpretation policies making a claim on at least part of said second token sequence if the condition of the interpretation policy is satisfied, and executing the associated policy action in response to determination that the claim is at least part of a winning claim, and wherein a particular one of said interpretation policies includes a policy condition, the satisfaction of which depends on said first interpretation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for natural language interpretation, for use with a network of agents including different first and second agents, for use further with a back-end application and with provided input token sequences, comprising the steps of the network of agents:
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developing a first interpretation in response to a first input token sequence, including at least one of said agents contributing to said first interpretation; and developing a second interpretation in response to a second input token sequence, including said first agent determining whether said first interpretation includes a contribution from said second agent, wherein said agent network comprises a plurality of agents arranged in a network, each of said agents having at least one interpretation policy having a policy condition and a policy action associated with the condition, said first agent including a particular one of said interpretation policies, wherein said step of developing a second interpretation comprises the step of each of said interpretation policies making a claim on at least part of said second token sequence if the condition of the interpretation policy is satisfied, and executing the associated policy action in response to determination that the claim is at least part of a winning claim, and wherein said particular interpretation policy includes a policy condition, the satisfaction of which depends on whether said first interpretation includes a contribution from said second agent. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. Natural language interpretation apparatus, for use in developing interpretations for forwarding toward a back-end application, of input token sequences provided to the interpretation apparatus,
comprising data processing hardware programmed to execute a plurality of agents arranged in a network, each of said agents having at least one interpretation policy, each of said interpretation policies having a policy condition and making a claim if the policy condition is satisfied, each of said interpretation policies further contributing to an actuation object representing an interpretation of an input token sequence in response to determination that a claim made by the interpretation policy is at least part of a winning claim, wherein one of said policy conditions makes reference to a token sequence provided to the agent in response to the input token sequence, and wherein at least a subject one of said interpretation policies makes reference to a representation of the interpretation of said apparatus in response to a prior input token sequence.
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19. Natural language interpretation apparatus, for use in developing interpretations for forwarding toward a back-end application, of input token sequences provided to the interpretation apparatus,
comprising data processing hardware programmed to execute a plurality of agents arranged in a network and responsive to an input token sequence, at least a subset of said agents each having at least one interpretation policy, each of said interpretation policies having a policy condition and an associated policy action, each given one of said interpretation policies making a claim in response to receipt by the agent containing the given interpretation policy of a token sequence if the condition of the given interpretation policy is satisfied, each given one of said interpretation policies further contributing to an actuation object representing an interpretation of an input token sequence in response to determination that a claim made by the given interpretation policy is at least part of a winning claim, and wherein for at least a subject one of said interpretation policies, when it makes a contribution to an actuation object, the contribution it makes differs depending on the interpretation of said apparatus in response to a prior input token sequence.
Specification