Information-processing apparatus, information-processing method and information-processing program

• US 20050021334A1
• Filed: 06/03/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Iwahashi, Naoto
• Application Number:
  US10/860,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20050021334A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/240
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue

Abstract

An information-processing apparatus, a method thereof, and a program therefor that can give an utterance adaptively to changes of the condition of a person and changes in environment. The information-processing apparatus for giving an utterance to a conversational partner to make the conversational partner understand an intended meaning of the utterance, includes a function inference element for inferring an overall confidence level function representing a probability that the conversational partner correctly understands the utterance, and an utterance generation element for giving the utterance by estimating a probability that the conversational partner correctly understands the utterance on the basis of the overall confidence level function.

Claims

1. An information-processing apparatus for giving an utterance to a conversational partner to cause the conversational partner to understand an intended meaning of the utterance, the information-processing apparatus comprising:

function inference means for inferring an overall confidence level function representing a probability that the conversational partner understands the utterance by using a learning process; and

utterance generation means for generating the utterance by estimating a probability that the conversational partner understands the utterance based on the overall confidence level function produced by the function inference means.

2. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the utterance generation means further generates the utterance also based on a determination function for inputting the utterance and an understandable meaning of the utterance and for representing a degree of propriety between the utterance and the understandable meaning of said utterance.

3. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the overall confidence level function inputting inputs a difference between a maximum value of an output generated by the determination function as a result of inputting the utterance used as a candidate to be generated as well as the intended meaning of said utterance and a maximum value of an output generated by the determination function as a result of inputting the utterance used as a candidate to be generated as well as a meaning other than the intended meaning of the utterance.

4. An information-processing method for giving an utterance to a conversational partner to make the conversational partner understand an intended meaning of the utterance, the information-processing method comprising the steps of:

inferring an overall confidence level function representing a probability that the conversational partner understands the utterance by using a learning process; and

generating the utterance by estimating a probability that the conversational partner understands the utterance based on the overall confidence level function obtained the step of inferring.

5. An information-processing program to be executed by a computer to provide an utterance to a conversational partner to cause the conversational partner to understand an intended meaning of the utterance, said information-processing program comprising the steps of:

inferring an overall confidence level function representing a probability that the conversational partner understands the utterance by using a learning process; and

providing the utterance by estimating a probability that the conversational partner understands the utterance based on the overall confidence level function obtained in the step of inferring.