Abstract
This article investigates the implications ofactive user model acquisition upon plan recognition, domain planning, and dialog planning in dialog architectures. A dialog system performs active user model acquisition by querying the user during the course of the dialog. Existing systems employ passive strategies that rely on inferences drawn from passive observation of the dialog. Though passive acquisition generally reduces unnecessary dialog, in some cases the system can effectively shorten the overall dialog length by selectively initiating subdialogs for acquiring information about the user.
We propose a theory identifying conditions under which the dialog system should adoptactive acquisition goals. Active acquisition imposes a set ofrationality requirements not met by current dialog architectures. To ensure rational dialog decisions, we propose significant extensions to plan recognition, domain planning, and dialog planning models, incorporating decision-theoretic heuristics for expected utility. The most appropriate framework for active acquisition is a multi-attribute utility model wherein plans are compared along multiple dimensions of utility. We suggest a general architectural scheme, and present an example from a preliminary implementation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, James F. and Raymond C. Perrault: 1980, ‘Analyzing intention in utterances’.Artificial Intelligence 15: 143–178.
Austin, J. L.: 1962,How to do things with words. London: Oxford University Press.
Calistri-Yeh, Randall J: 1991, ‘Utilizing user models to handle ambiguity and misconceptions in robust plan recognition’.UMUAI, forthcoming.
Carberry, Sandra: 1988, ‘Modeling the user's plans and goals’.Computational Linguistics 14(3): 23–37.
Chin, David: 1988,Intelligent agents as a basis for natural language interfaces (Ph.D. Thesis). Comp. Sci. Div., Univ. of California at Berkeley, Report No. UCB/CSD 88/396.
Cohen, Philip R., and C. Raymond Perrault: 1979, ‘Elements of a plan-based theory of speech acts’.Cognitive Science 3: 177–212.
Eller, Rhonda, and Sandra Carberry: 1991, ‘A meta-rule approach to flexible plan recognition in dialogue’.UMUAI, forthcoming.
Grice, H. P: 1975, ‘Logic and conversation’. In P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (eds.),Syntax and Semantics, Volume 3. New York: Academic Press.
Kobsa, Alfred: 1985, ‘VIE-DPM: A user model in a natural-language dialogue system’. In J. Laubsch (ed.),GWAI-84, 8th German Workshop on Artificial Intelligence. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Litman, Diane J., and James F. Allen: 1984,A plan recognition model for subdialogues in conversation. Dept. of Comp. Sci., Univ. of Rochester, TR 141.
Mayfield, James: 1989,Goal analysis: Plan recognition in dialogue systems (Ph.D. thesis). Comp. Sci. Div., Univ. of California at Berkeley, Report No. UCB 89/521.
Mayfield, James: 1991, ‘Controlling inference in plan recognition’.UMUAI, forthcoming.
Raskutti, Bhavani, and Ingrid Zukerman: 1991, ‘Generation and selection of likely interpretations during plan recognition in task-oriented consultation systems’.UMUAI, forthcoming.
Rich, Elaine: 1979,Building and exploiting user models. Ph.D. Thesis, Comp. Sci. Dept., Carnegie-Mellon Univ.
Russell, Stuart, and Eric Wefald: 1988, ‘Multi-level decision-theoretic search’.AAAI Symposium on Game-Playing, Stanford Univ.
Russell, Stuart, and Eric Wefald: 1991, ‘Do the right thing’. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Searle, J. R: 1969,Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sleeman, D: 1985, ‘UMFE: A user modelling front-end subsystem’.International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 23: 71–88.
von Winterfeldt, Detlof, and Ward Edwards: 1986,Decision analysis and behavioral research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wahlster, W., H. Marburger, A. Jameson, and S. Busemann: 1983, ‘Over-answering yes-no-questions: Extended responses in a NL interface to a vision system’.Proc. IJCAI-83, 643–646.
Wahlster, W., and A. Kobsa: 1986,Dialog-based user models. Dept. of Comp. Sci., Universitaet des Saarlandes, West Germany, XTRA Report No. 3.
Wilensky, Robert: 1983,Planning and understanding. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Wilensky, Robert, David Chin, Marc Luria, James Martin, James Mayfield, and Dekai Wu: 1988, ‘The Berkeley UNIX Consultant project’.Computational Linguistics 14(4): 35–84.
Wu, Dekai, and Bettina Horster: 1989, ‘Active acquisition for user modeling in dialog systems’.Proc. Cognitive Science 1989. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The author will be at the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, until
The author will be at the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, until
The author will be at the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, until
The author will be at the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, until
The author will be at the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, until
The author will be at the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, until
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, D. Active acquisition of user models: Implications for decision-theoretic dialog planning and plan recognition. User Model User-Adap Inter 1, 149–172 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00154476
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00154476