Interactive automated response system

• US 6,567,805 B1
• Filed: 05/15/2000
• Issued: 05/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Goetz, Thilo W., Johnson, David E., Oles, Frank J.
• Primary Examiner(s): ROBINSON, GRETA LEE
• Application Number:
  US09/570,788
• Time in Patent Office: 1,100 Days
• Field of Search: 707/5, 707/4, 707/3, 704/9
• US Class Current: 707/740
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/30 of unstructured textual data document management systems G06F16/93
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/917 Text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A computerized system responds, not just to a single query issued by a user, but to a query in the context of a dialog with the user. The system, which is referred to as an interactive automated response system, consists of three principal components or subsystems, which are a text categorizer that assigns categories to text extracted from a dialog, a search system whose purpose is to match text extracted from a dialog with answers, and a dialog manager whose purpose is to maintain a user'"'"'s session history, to decide what text should be sent to the text categorizer and to the search system, to make use of a partially ordered category scheme to categorize each stage of the dialog based on the results returned by the other components, and to use the results of dialog categorization, as well as the results returned by the other components to create suitable responses to the user'"'"'s query in the context of his or her earlier queries.

Claims

1. A computerized interactive automated response system which responds to a query from a user in the context of a dialog with the user comprising:

a text categorizer that assigns categories to text extracted from a dialog with the user;

a search system which matches text extracted from a dialog with answers; and

a dialog manager which maintains a user'"'"'s session history, decides what text should be sent to the text-categorizer and to the search system, makes use of a partially ordered category scheme to categorize each stage of the dialog based on results returned by the text categorizer and the search system, and uses results of dialog categorization to create suitable responses to the user'"'"'s query in the context of his or her earlier queries.

2. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 1, wherein the dialog manager comprises:

a user interface manager which receives inputs from a user and outputs prompts for more information or answers to the user;

a session manager which receives the user inputs from the user interface manager and maintains a session history; and

a text analyzer which receives user inputs in the form of text from the session manager, parses the text and directs the parsed text to the text categorizer and the search engine, the text analyzer receiving results from the text categorizer and the search engine and passing those results to user interface manger via the session manager.

3. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 2, wherein the dialog manager receives natural language queries from a user and determines relevant text from the queries to send to the text categorizer and the search system.

4. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 2, wherein the text categorizer is a rules based system.

5. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 2, wherein the search system includes a lightweight document matcher.

6. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 1, wherein the dialog manager, using results returned by the text categorizer and the search system, preferentially determines new drill-down categories that are more specific to previously found categories in a dialog with the user to create a suitable response to the user'"'"'s current query in the context of his or her earlier queries.

7. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 6, wherein the dialog manager sends constrained queries to the search system, a constrained query being associated with an assigned category.

8. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 6, wherein the dialog manager, uses results returned by the text categorizer and the search system, determines a topic switch from previously found categories in a dialog with the user and, based on the determination of a topic switch, creates a suitable response to the user'"'"'s current query.

9. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 8, wherein the dialog manager keeps the session history when new drill-down categories are determined but discards the session history when a topic switch is determined.

10. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 9, wherein the dialog manager comprises:

a user interface manager which receives inputs from a user and outputs prompts for more information or answers to the user;

a session manager which receives the user inputs from the user interface manager and maintains a session history; and

a text analyzer which receives user inputs in the form of text from the session manager, parses the text and directs the parsed text to the text categorizer and the search engine, the text analyzer receiving results from the text categorizer and the search engine and passing those results to user interface manger via the session-manager.

11. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 10, wherein the text categorizer is a rules based system.

12. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 10, wherein the search system includes a lightweight document matcher.

13. The computerized interactive automated response system recited in claim 10, wherein the text categorizer is a rules based system and the search system includes a lightweight document matcher.

14. A computer implemented interactive automated response method comprising the steps of:

receiving a user input by a dialog manager and, after each user input is received, extracting by the dialog manager one or more texts from a record of dialog with the user, sending those texts to a text categorizer, and then using results of categorizing the texts to assign one or more categories to the dialog with the user;

sending by the dialog manager queries in the form of texts that are deemed to be the best evidence for category assignments so far made to a search system;

for each query sent to the search system by the dialog manager, returning by the search system any matches together with categories to which each matching answer belongs, as well as, for each match, a score indicating the relative degree of fit of the match to the query; and

based on the categories assigned and the answers found, generating a response by the dialog manager to the user.

15. The computer implemented interactive automated response method recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of using by the dialog manager the categories found by the text categorizer to narrow provisionally a set of possible answers deemed relevant to the user'"'"'s latest query.

16. The computer implemented interactive automated response method recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of determining by the dialog manager what text is to be sent to the search system by comparing currently assigned categories with categories previously assigned to detect whether the user is asking about a more specific subject or switching topics.

17. The computer implemented interactive automated response method recited in claim 16, wherein if the user is asking about a more specific subject, then searching for an answer in context based on a combination of a current query with an earlier query or queries.

18. The computer implemented interactive automated response method recited in claim 16, wherein if the user is switching topics, then using a current query, in isolation from earlier queries, as a basis for a search for answers.

19. The computer implemented interactive automated response method recited in claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

preferentially determining new drill-down categories that are more specific to previously found categories in a dialog with the user;

searching for an answer in context based on a combination of a current query with an earlier query or queries;

but

determining a topic switch from previously found categories in a dialog with the user; and

,

if the user is switching topics, searching for answers using a current query, in isolation from earlier queries.