Using automated agents to facilitate chat communications

• US 8,037,147 B1
• Filed: 09/03/2009
• Issued: 10/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Herold, June R., Schreiner, William P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim; Krisna
• Application Number:
  US12/553,536
• Time in Patent Office: 768 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/02 using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]

Abstract

An automated agent, such as an instant message robot, is be used to facilitate introduction of a chat participant to a small group of other chat participants in a chat room. To do so, for example, a BOT may present a chat participant who desires to be introduced to a small group of chat participants in a chat room with a series of multiple-choice questions, identify a subset of chat participants based on responses to the multiple-choice questions, and provide introductions among the chat participants in the subset to facilitate conversation therebetween. For example, the introductions provided by the BOT may indicate areas of mutual interest among chat participants in the subset, similar responses to one or more multiple-choice questions, and/or diverse responses to one or more multiple-choice questions.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium, the computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, causes one or more processing devices to implement:

a chat room system that includes a chat room that is accessible over a network of computers to at least a first messaging identity and a second messaging identity;

a third messaging identity representing a messaging robot that is configured to;

access the chat room;

monitor messaging in the chat room among the first messaging identity and the second messaging identity;

detect, based on the monitoring, that the first messaging identity has posted a potentially inappropriate message in the chat room;

in response to detecting that the first messaging identity has posted the potentially inappropriate message, send an inquiry message from the third messaging identity to the second messaging identity, the inquiry message asking the second messaging identity whether the second messaging identity is uncomfortable with the potentially inappropriate remark;

receive, from the second messaging identity, a response to the inquiry message;

if the received response indicates that the second messaging identity is not uncomfortable with the potentially inappropriate remark, take no action; and

if the received response indicates that the second messaging identity is uncomfortable with the potentially inappropriate remark, perform an action to protect the second messaging identity from further inappropriate messages.

2. The medium of claim 1 wherein the action to protect the second messaging identity from further inappropriate messages includes one or more of the following:

privately or publicly reprimanding the first messaging identity, removing the first messaging identity from the chat room, removing the second messaging identity from the chat room.

3. The medium of claim 1 wherein the messaging robot is configured to send the inquiry message as a private message from the third messaging identity to the second messaging identity such that the first messaging identity is not able to perceive the private message.

4. The medium of claim 1 wherein the messaging robot is further configured to:

detect, based on the monitoring, a pause of a predetermined length in messaging among all participants in the chat room; and

in response to detecting the pause of predetermined length, send a stimulating message from the third messaging identity to the chat room to stimulate messaging among the participants of the chat room.

5. The medium of claim 4 wherein, to send a message to the chat room to stimulate messaging among the participants of the chat room, the messaging robot is further configured to:

send a private message from the third messaging identity to the second messaging identity that solicits a response to a question;

receive a response to the question from the second messaging identity;

compose the stimulating message based on the received response to the question.

6. The medium of claim 4 wherein, to send a message to the chat room to stimulate messaging among the participants of the chat room, the messaging robot is further configured to:

compose the stimulating message based on a response from the second messaging identity to a question previously sent from the from the third messaging identity to the second messaging identity.

7. The medium of claim 1 wherein the potentially inappropriate message is directed to the second messaging identity.

8. The medium of claim 1 wherein the messaging robot is further configured to:

present questions to the second messaging identity, at least one of the questions including selectable responses associated with the question;

receive, from second messaging identity, responses to the questions;

access, from computer-accessible memory, stored responses to the questions, at least one of the stored response having been received from another messaging identity and being associated with the other instant messaging identity who provided the response;

compare responses received from the second instant messaging identity to the accessed stored responses;

identify, based at least in part on results of the comparison, a group of less than all messaging identities who are currently connected to the chat room system, the group including the first messaging identity; and

use the third messaging identity to introduce the identified group of messaging identities who are currently connected to the chat room system to the second messaging identity and to introduce the second messaging identity to the identified group of messaging identities who are connected to the chat room system.

9. The medium of claim 8 wherein the messaging robot is further configured to:

access, from computer-accessible storage, interaction ratings about interactions between the second messaging identity and at least one other messaging identity in the identified group of messaging identities; and

identify, based on results of the comparison and the accessed interaction ratings, a group of less than all messaging identities who are currently connected to the chat room system such that the identified group does not include a messaging identity with whom the second messaging identity reported a prior negative interaction.

10. The medium of claim 8 wherein the messaging robot is further configured to:

access, from computer-accessible storage, interaction ratings about interactions between the second messaging identity and at least one other messaging identity in the identified group of messaging identities; and

identify, based on results of the comparison and the accessed interaction ratings, a group of less than all messaging identities who are currently connected to the chat room system such that the identified group includes a messaging identity with whom the second messaging identity reported a prior positive interaction.

11. The medium of claim 1 wherein the chat room comprises a chat room for on-line dating.

12. A method comprising:

executing instructions on one or more processing devices that, when executed by the one or more processing devices, cause the one or more processing devices to perform the following operations;

connecting at least a first messaging identity and a second messaging identity to a chat room of a chat room system;

monitoring messaging in the chat room among the first messaging identity and the second messaging identity;

detecting, based on the monitoring, that the first messaging identity has posted a potentially inappropriate message in the chat room;

in response to detecting that the first messaging identity has posted the potentially inappropriate message, send an inquiry message from a third messaging identity representing a messaging robot to the second messaging identity, the inquiry message asking the second messaging identity whether the second messaging identity is uncomfortable with the potentially inappropriate remark;

receiving at the messaging robot, from the second messaging identity, a response to the inquiry message;

if the received response indicates that the second messaging identity is not uncomfortable with the potentially inappropriate remark, taking no action; and

if the received response indicates that the second messaging identity is uncomfortable with the potentially inappropriate remark, performing an action to protect the second messaging identity from further inappropriate messages.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein performing an action to protect the second messaging identity from further inappropriate messages includes one or more of the following:

privately or publicly reprimanding the first messaging identity, removing the first messaging identity from the chat room, removing the second messaging identity from the chat room.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein sending the inquiry message comprises sending the inquiry message from the third messaging identity to the second messaging identity as a private message to the second messaging identity such that the first messaging identity is not able to perceive the private message.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the instructions cause the one or more processing devices to perform the following operations:

detecting, based on the monitoring, a pause of a predetermined length in messaging among all participants in the chat room; and

in response to detecting the pause of predetermined length, sending a stimulating message from the third messaging identity to the chat room to stimulate messaging among the participants of the chat room.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein sending a message to the chat room to stimulate messaging among the participants of the chat room includes:

sending a private message from the third messaging identity to the second messaging identity that solicits a response to a question;

receiving a response to the question from the second messaging identity;

composing the stimulating message based on the received response to the question.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein sending a message to the chat room to stimulate messaging among the participants of the chat room includes:

composing the stimulating message based on a response from the second messaging identity to a question previously sent from the messaging robot to the second messaging identity.

18. The method claim 12 wherein the chat room comprises a chat room for on-line dating.