IDENTIFYING TASKS IN MESSAGES

• US 20150205782A1
• Filed: 01/22/2014
• Published: 07/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Subramanya, Amarnag, Agarwal, Shalini, Pellicer, Edgar Gonzalez
• Granted Patent: US 9,606,977 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/253 Grammatical analysis; Style critique
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/279 Recognition of textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are described herein for identifying tasks in messages. In various implementations, natural language processing may be performed on a received message to generate an annotated message. The annotated message may be analyzed pursuant to a grammar. A portion of the message may be classified as a user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

performing, by a computing system, natural language processing on a received message to generate an annotated message;

analyzing, by the computing system, the annotated message pursuant to a grammar; and

classifying, by the computing system, a portion of the message as a user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the analyzing comprises analyzing, by the computing system, the annotated message pursuant to a plurality of rule paths of the grammar to generate a plurality of candidate user task entries and associated scores; and

the classifying comprises selecting, by the computing system, the user task entry from the plurality of candidate user task entries based on the associated scores.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the computing system, a user interface associated with fulfillment of the user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein performance of the natural language processing comprises identifying, by the computing system, a reference to a task interaction entity of the user task entry in the message.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein performance of the natural language processing further comprises classifying, by the computing system, the first task interaction entity as a person, location or organization.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein performance of the natural language processing further comprises identifying, by the computing system, a task action of the user task entry.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein identifying the user interface comprises identifying the user interface based on the task interaction entity and task action.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising automatically populating, by the computing system, one or more data points associated with the user interface with information based on the analysis of the annotated message.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising automatically launching or opening, by the computing system, the user interface.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the grammar comprises a context-free grammar.

11. A system including memory and one or more processors operable to execute instructions stored in the memory, comprising instructions to:

perform natural language processing on a received message to generate an annotated message;

analyze the annotated message pursuant to a grammar; and

classify a portion of the message as a user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the system further comprises instructions to:

analyze the annotated message pursuant to a plurality of rule paths of the grammar to generate a plurality of candidate user task entries and associated scores; and

select the user task entry from the plurality of candidate user task entries based on the associated scores.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the system further comprises instructions to identify a user interface associated with fulfillment of the user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the system further comprises instructions to identify a reference to a task interaction entity of the user task entry in the message.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the system further comprises instructions to classify the first task interaction entity as a person, location or organization.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the system further comprises instructions to identify a task action of the user task entry.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the system further comprises instructions to identify the user interface based on the task interaction entity and task action.

18. The system of claim 13, further comprising automatically populating, by the computing system, one or more data points associated with the user interface with information based on the analysis of the annotated message.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the system further comprises instructions to automatically launch or open the user interface.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

performing natural language processing on a received message to generate an annotated message;

analyzing the annotated message pursuant to a grammar;

classifying a portion of the message as a user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message; and

identifying, by the computing system, a user interface associated with fulfillment of the user task entry based on the analysis of the annotated message.