JP3783936B2 - Interactive information providing apparatus, interactive information providing processing method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an interactive information providing service system, and more specifically, when a user inputs a sentence meaning an information inquiry as a character string or speech, a confirmation sentence for confirming the contents of the inquiry is a character string or When the confirmation text is output to the user, and the confirmation text is input as a character string or speech, the user's approval is recorded and confirmed by the user. When inputting a sentence meaning correction of a message as a character string or voice, record the result of correcting the inquiry, and use it by judging from the recorded inquiry in the dialogue between the user and the information provider. After the information type to be provided to the user can be uniquely determined, a response sentence for providing information according to the contents of the recorded inquiry is given to the user as a voice or a character string If the user inputs a sentence that means denial of the response sentence output, after re-conversation, after confirming all or part of the inquiry that has not been approved by the user at that time The present invention relates to an interactive information providing apparatus and method for outputting a response sentence according to an approved inquiry content, a program thereof, and a recording medium.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the interactive information providing service system, information desired by the user is provided by automatic dialogue with the user. For example, when there is a database storing various information such as weather information, TV program guide, schedule table, transportation schedule, etc., a sentence meaning a query about the information stored in the database is stored in the user. Is input as a character string or voice via a keyboard, mouse, voice recognition device of a computer terminal, or a combination thereof, the information provider first sets a phrase string for confirming the content of the user's inquiry, The data is output to the user via a display of a computer terminal, a printer, a typewriter, a voice synthesizer, or a combination thereof. When the user inputs a sentence meaning approval of confirmation as a character string or voice, the information providing side records the inquiry content approved by the user. When the user inputs a sentence meaning correction of confirmation as a character string or a voice, the information providing side changes the recorded inquiry content. After the information type to be provided to the user can be uniquely determined in this series of exchanges, the information providing side outputs a response sentence for providing information according to the recorded inquiry contents as a character string or a voice. .
[0003]
Conventionally, in this type of interactive information provision service, in order to confirm the contents of the inquiry on the user side, all the contents of the inquiry entered by the user are confirmed, and only based on the contents of the inquiry approved by the user. There are known methods for providing information. This is referred to as the first prior art.
[0004]
In this first prior art, when a sentence input by a user is analyzed and a set of attribute / value pairs representing the user's inquiry content is generated, all the attributes constituting the inquiry content are confirmed. Although a sentence to be requested is output, there has been a problem of increasing the degree of user dissatisfaction associated with misrecognition when generating the contents of an inquiry from a sentence input by the user. In other words, when generating the contents of an inquiry from a sentence entered by a user as a character string or voice, the inquiry contents differ from the contents of the inquiry intended by the user due to reasons such as misrecognition of the character string or voice. May be generated. In that case, the content of the sentence output for confirmation by the information providing side is different from the content of the inquiry intended by the user. Since the user inputs a sentence meaning correction, the information inquired by the user is not immediately output. The user is requested to confirm again from the information providing side, and the degree of dissatisfaction of the user increases.
[0005]
In order to avoid an increase in user dissatisfaction, it is necessary to reduce the number of confirmation sentences output by the information provider. Therefore, the applicant, as Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-85884, confirms all or part of the attributes included in the contents of the generated inquiry, the user approves the confirmation, and the user approves the confirmation. In the series of dialog procedures for outputting a response sentence according to the contents of the inquired inquiry, select the dialog procedure that minimizes the expected value of the total number of confirmation sentences and response sentences to be output to the user. After proceeding with the dialogue according to the procedure, after the information type to be provided to the user could be uniquely determined, a method of providing information based on the approved inquiry content was proposed. This is referred to as the second prior art. Here, the expected value of the sum of the confirmation text and the response text output in the dialog procedure is called the dialog cost of the dialog procedure. The number of response sentences is also taken into account because even if the number of response sentences increases, the degree of user dissatisfaction may increase.
[0006]
However, as in the first technique, the second conventional technique has a limitation in that information is provided only according to the approved inquiry contents out of the inquiry contents generated from the sentence entered by the user. Limitations may increase user dissatisfaction.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The problems of the first prior art and the second prior art will be described in detail. In both the first conventional technique and the second conventional technique, the user's inquiry content is expressed as a set of three sets of attributes, attribute values, and constants (flags) indicating whether the values are approved. The
[0008]
As an example, consider an information service for weather information. There are two types of information that can be provided to the user side: today's weather forecasted at a certain location and an alarm currently announced at a certain location. The content of the user's inquiry is represented by two attributes: location and information type. The attribute of place takes a prefecture name such as Kanagawa Prefecture or Kagawa Prefecture as a value, and the information type takes a value of weather or warning.
[0009]
Now, the user enters a sentence meaning the inquiry "Please tell me about the weather in Kanagawa Prefecture", and the information provider says that the content of the user's inquiry is "Tell me about the weather in Kanagawa Prefecture" Suppose that it is correctly recognized. After that, in a series of exchanges, it is assumed that a confirmation sentence for confirming that the information type is weather is output and the user has approved the confirmation. The inquiry content generated at this time is a triple that indicates that the attribute value of place is Kanagawa Prefecture but is not approved to be Kanagawa Prefecture, and the attribute value of the information type is weather. Is a set of two triples, ie, a triple representing approval. This triplet set is written as follows:
{<Place, Kanagawa, not yet>, <information type, weather, finished>}
[0010]
In the above expression, “not yet” means not approved, and “completed” is a flag meaning approved.
[0011]
In this situation, the first conventional technique outputs a confirmation sentence “Is Kanagawa Prefecture?” To confirm all the attributes included in the inquiry content generated from the user's sentence. This is because it is impossible to judge that the location attribute value is Kanagawa Prefecture without confirmation, considering the possibility of an error in speech recognition. Since the contents of the inquiry intended by the user and the contents of the confirmation match, the user inputs an approval sentence “Yes”, and the information provider outputs one response sentence “The weather in Kanagawa is fine” To do.
[0012]
In this way, the information providing side outputs a total of two sentences, a confirmation sentence “Is Kanagawa Prefecture?” And a response sentence “The weather in Kanagawa Prefecture is fine”. From the user's side, despite the fact that Kanagawa Prefecture is entered, the user is required to make redundant checks such as “Is Kanagawa Prefecture?”, Which increases dissatisfaction.
[0013]
Next, the second prior art will be described. In the example assumed now, the inquiry content is expressed as follows.
{<Place, Kanagawa, not yet>, <information type, weather, finished>}
In this case, the type of provision information that can be provided to the user is one type of weather.
[0014]
In the second conventional technology, for each provided information type, the contents of the inquiry are confirmed, the user's approval is input, and all the interaction procedures to respond are generated, and the total number of confirmation sentences and response sentences, that is, the conversation cost Choose an interactive procedure that minimizes. There are various interactive procedures, but here, for the sake of simplicity, the value of one attribute of location is checked until the user's approval is entered, and then the weather of the location approved by the user is displayed. Forecasting to all locations in the database according to the approved type of information without confirming the location, and the confirmation type dialogue procedure A that generates one response sentence to convey the information of what is Consider an immediate response type interactive procedure B in which the weather being transmitted is transmitted.
[0015]
In the second prior art, in order to calculate the dialogue cost, it is necessary to estimate the number of confirmation sentences output until the user approves. The number of confirmation sentences output until the user approves depends on the accuracy of recognizing the attribute value. The value of each attribute may be different from the query intended by the user due to misrecognition. Therefore, the more attributes to be confirmed, the more likely the user will be able to correct the confirmation. The number of confirmation sentences increases. Here, a method is adopted in which the number of confirmation sentences is estimated to be the reciprocal of the recognition rate of the attribute to be confirmed. Assume that the location recognition rate is 0.9. Under this recognition rate, the number of confirmation sentences required to confirm one attribute of place is the reciprocal of 0.9, that is, 1.1. There is one response sentence. Therefore, the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure A is the sum 2.2 of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences.
[0016]
In the dialogue procedure B, there are zero confirmation sentences. The number of response sentences depends on the number of places registered in the database. Consider the case where the number of locations registered in the database is 50 and two. Now, assume that the number of locations in the database is 50. In this case, 50 response sentences are output, and the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure B is 50. Eventually, the procedure A with a low dialogue cost is selected, and the information providing side outputs a confirmation text “Is it Kanagawa Prefecture” in order to confirm only the attribute of the place.
[0017]
Next, assuming that there are two locations registered in the database, in the dialogue procedure B where the location is not confirmed, it is only necessary to convey the weather of the two locations, so there are two response sentences. The cost is 2. In this case, since the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure B is smaller than the dialogue cost 2.2 of the dialogue procedure A, the dialogue procedure B is selected and a response sentence is output without confirming the location. It will be. The user does not need to receive redundant confirmations and satisfaction increases.
[0018]
As described above, the second prior art may select the immediate response type interactive procedure B depending on the contents of the database to solve the problems of the first prior art. However, even in the second prior art, as in the first prior art, the confirmation type dialogue procedure A is selected, a redundant confirmation sentence is output, and the degree of dissatisfaction of the user is increased. May occur. This is because the second prior art has a limitation that, like the first prior art, the response sentence is always output only based on the approved inquiry content.
[0019]
However, if the recognition rate of Kanagawa Prefecture is high enough, without confirming the value of the location attribute, it is assumed that the current inquiry content is correct, and a response sentence that tells the weather in Kanagawa Prefecture is output and the response If the sentence is incorrect, the user enters a disapproval sentence that means disapproval, and if the user's disapproval sentence is received, the dialogue is redone. In the redoed dialogue, after confirming the value of the location attribute, the content is approved. The interactive procedure of outputting a response sentence based on the confirmation procedure (hereinafter referred to as the confirmation necessity search type interactive procedure C) is always a confirmation type interactive procedure A or an immediate response that outputs a response sentence according to the approved inquiry content. The dialogue cost may be smaller than the type of dialogue procedure B.
[0020]
Now, assume that the number of locations registered in the database is 50. As already described, in the second prior art, the dialog procedure A with a dialog cost of 2.2 is selected and the location is confirmed. In this situation, the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure C is considered. First, assume that the current inquiry is correct. Since the probability of being correct in Kanagawa Prefecture is 0.9, the probability that the current inquiry is correct is 0.9. In the dialog procedure C, confirmation is not performed first, and a response sentence is generated on the assumption that the content of the inquiry is correct. Therefore, the number of confirmation sentences is zero. The response sentence is one of “The weather in Kanagawa Prefecture is fine”. Therefore, when the inquiry content is correct (probability = 0.9), the dialogue cost is 1.
[0021]
Next, consider the case where the current inquiry is not correct. The probability that the inquiry content is not correct is 0.1. In this case, after outputting one response sentence that “the weather in Kanagawa Prefecture is fine”, the user inputs a disapproval sentence that means disapproval and restarts the dialogue. In the redoed dialogue, the location attribute is checked. The expected value of the number of confirmation sentences is 1.1. There is one response sentence that follows. Eventually, one incorrect response sentence is output first, and if the response sentence is incorrect, the dialog is restarted, and 2.2 confirmation sentences and one response sentence are output. 3.2.
[0022]
If the inquiry content is correct, the dialog cost is 1 with a probability of 0.9, and if the inquiry content is incorrect, the dialog cost is 3.2 with a probability of 0.1. Eventually, the expected value of the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure C is 0.9 × 1 + 0.1 × 3.2 = 1.2.
[0023]
Since the dialogue cost of the confirmation type dialogue procedure A that always outputs a response sentence according to the approved inquiry content is 2.2, the person who chose the confirmation necessity retrieval type dialogue procedure C that gives the dialogue cost 1.2 However, the cost of dialogue is low. Therefore, if you do not confirm the location and output a response saying “The weather in Kanagawa is clear” based on the unacknowledged inquiry, it is possible to avoid unnecessary confirmation and the cost of dialogue Since it does not increase, user satisfaction is not reduced.
[0024]
Although there is an interactive procedure that does not increase the interactive cost even if confirmation is not performed, such as the confirmation necessity search type interactive procedure C, the conventional method always responds according to the approved inquiry contents. In order to output a sentence, there is a problem that the dialogue cost increases, a useless confirmation sentence is output, and the satisfaction of the user is reduced.
[0025]
The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional technology as described above in the interactive information providing service, and the conventional technology always tries to output a response sentence in accordance with the approved inquiry content. However, in the present invention, in the present invention, without confirming the attribute, the response sentence is output according to the contents of the inquiry that has not been approved by the user, and the response sentence is incorrect. Confirmation is performed in consideration of the necessity of confirmation type dialogue procedure, in which the dialogue is redone at the point of understanding, and confirmation is performed in the redone dialogue, and information is provided according to the content approved by the user. And the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences that are output to the user due to misrecognition, etc. by proceeding with the conversation according to the conversation procedure that minimizes the sum of the number of response sentences To make it possible to avoid an increase in the dissatisfaction of the users due to the increase.
[0026]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the interactive information providing apparatus of the present invention, an immediate response type interactive procedure in which a response is made in accordance with an inquiry content already approved by the user at the present time without confirmation, and confirmation of all or part of the inquiry content is performed. The confirmation type interactive procedure that responds according to the inquiry content approved and requested by the user, and the response is made assuming that the inquiry content is correct without performing the confirmation, and a disapproval text is input from the user Repeat the dialogue, and in the dialogue that has been redone, check all or part of the unacknowledged inquiry contents, and count all of the confirmation necessity search type interaction procedures to respond according to the approved inquiry contents. The sum of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences included in the dialogue procedure is calculated as the dialogue cost, and the dialogue procedure with the minimum need for confirmation type dialogue procedure is calculated. If it is intended to give the strike, to advancing the dialogue in accordance with the procedure of interactive confirmation necessity exploratory mainly characterized. As a result, it is possible to avoid an increase in the degree of user dissatisfaction associated with an increase in the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences output to the user due to misrecognition or the like.
[0027]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an interactive information providing apparatus according to the present invention. The interactive information providing apparatus includes an input unit 10, a sentence understanding unit 20, a provided information type determining unit 30, a dialog procedure generating unit 40, a dialog cost calculating unit 50, a confirmation attribute candidate generating unit 60, a confirmation cost determining unit 70, an immediate The response type cost determination unit 80, the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90, the output unit 100, the control unit 110, and the database 120 are configured. The database 120 stores information to be provided to the user. The input unit 10 and the output unit 100 are connected to the user's terminal through a communication line or the like, but are omitted in FIG. This interactive information providing apparatus is constructed using a so-called computer system, and the control unit 110 receives information from each unit and controls the operation of each unit according to the progress of the dialogue. Hereinafter, the operation of each unit will be described.
[0028]
The input unit 10 accepts an inquiry or confirmation of information or confirms or corrects or responds to an inquiry of information entered by a user as a character string or speech via a keyboard, mouse, voice recognition device, or a combination of them. Capture a sentence that means denial.
[0029]
The sentence comprehension unit 20 analyzes a sentence input from the user side, sets the query contents of the user at that time as an attribute, a value of the attribute, and a set of three flags indicating whether or not the value is approved Is to be recorded. When the user inputs a sentence meaning an inquiry of information, the sentence understanding unit 20 judges from the contents of the sentence and the inquiry contents recorded at the time when the sentence is input, and the user's inquiry A set of triples including an attribute representing contents, an attribute value, and a flag indicating whether or not the value has been approved is generated, the set of the triples is recorded as the inquiry contents of the user, and the provided information type determination unit 30 Are transferred to the dialogue procedure generation unit 40, the confirmation attribute candidate generation unit 60, and the control unit 110. In addition, when the user inputs a sentence meaning approval of the confirmation to the confirmation sentence for confirming the attribute, the sentence understanding unit 20 records the attribute as the inquiry content approved by the user, and similarly provides the provided information. The data is transferred to the type determination unit 30, the dialogue procedure generation unit 40, the confirmation attribute candidate generation unit 60, and the control unit 110. In addition, when the user enters a correction sentence that means correction to the confirmation sentence, the recorded inquiry contents are compared with the correction sentence contents when the correction sentence is entered, and are included in the recorded inquiry contents. If the correction content contains an attribute that is not correct, the attribute and the attribute value are added to the query content, and the correction content includes the attribute included in the recorded query content. If it differs from the correction content, the attribute value included in the inquiry content is replaced with the value of the attribute included in the correction content, and similarly, the provided information type determination unit 30, the dialog procedure generation unit 40, and the confirmation attribute candidate generation unit 60 and the control unit 110. Further, when the user inputs a sentence meaning rejection of the response to the confirmation sentence, a response rejection signal is sent to the control unit 110.
[0030]
The provided information type determining unit 30 determines from the inquiry contents of the user transferred from the sentence understanding unit 20 and determines all types of information that can be provided to the user as provided information types. Calculate the probability of the provided information type. The provided information type determination unit 30 transfers the determined provided information type to the dialogue procedure generation unit 40, and transfers the provided information type and the probability of the provided information type to the confirmation type cost determination unit 70.
[0031]
The dialog procedure generating unit 40 generates three types of dialog procedures. That is, for each of the provided information types transferred from the provided information type determining unit 30, the user has requested confirmation of all or part of the attributes constituting the contents of the inquiry not approved by the user, and the user has approved the confirmation. Later, according to the contents of the inquiry approved by the user side, according to the confirmation type interactive procedure A in which the information stored in the database 120 is provided, and according to the contents of the inquiry that is currently approved without confirmation. Provide the information accumulated in the database 120, assuming that the current inquiry contents are correct without confirmation and the interactive response procedure B of providing the information accumulated in the database 120. If the user enters a sentence that means denial of the response, the dialogue is redone. Generating a dialogue procedure C confirmation necessity exploratory of providing information in accordance with pre-inquiry contents. The dialog procedure generating unit 40 transfers each generated dialog procedure to the dialog cost calculating unit 50.
[0032]
The dialog cost calculation unit 50 estimates the sum of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences included in the dialog procedure for each dialog procedure transferred from the dialog procedure generation unit 40, and sets the estimated total as the dialog cost. The dialogue cost calculation unit 50 transfers the confirmation-type dialogue procedure and the dialogue cost to the confirmation-type cost determination unit 70, and transfers the immediate-response type dialogue procedure and the dialogue cost to the immediate-response type cost determination unit 80. The necessity search type dialogue procedure and the dialogue cost are respectively transferred to the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90.
[0033]
On the other hand, the confirmation attribute candidate generation unit 60 generates, as confirmation attribute candidates, all combinations of attributes that have not been approved among the user inquiries transferred from the sentence understanding unit 20 and transfers them to the confirmation type cost determination unit 70. To do.
[0034]
The confirmation type cost determination unit 70 generates a confirmation attribute candidate for each provision information type transferred from the provision information type determination unit 30 using the confirmation type dialogue procedure and the dialogue cost transferred from the dialogue cost calculation unit 50. In the confirmation type dialogue procedure for confirming the confirmation attribute candidate transferred from the unit 60, the dialogue procedure having the minimum dialogue cost is selected, and the probability of the provided information type transferred from the provided information type determining unit 30 is considered. Then, the expected value of the dialogue cost is calculated, and the expected value is generated as the attribute confirmation type cost of the confirmation attribute candidate. This is performed for each confirmation attribute candidate transferred from the confirmation attribute candidate generation unit 60. Next, compare the attribute confirmation type costs of each confirmation attribute candidate, select the confirmation attribute candidate with the smallest attribute confirmation type cost, generate that attribute as a confirmation attribute, and confirm the minimum attribute confirmation type cost Generate as attribute confirmation type cost. The confirmation type cost determination unit 70 transfers the determined confirmation attribute to the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90, and transfers the confirmation attribute and the confirmation type cost to the output unit 100.
[0035]
The immediate response type cost determination unit 80 determines the dialogue cost of the immediate response type dialogue procedure transferred from the dialogue cost calculation unit 50 as an immediate response type cost, and transfers the determined immediate response type cost to the output unit 100. To do. Further, the immediate response type cost determination unit 80 generates a response sentence output according to the immediate response type dialog procedure transferred from the dialog cost calculation unit 50, and transfers the response sentence to the output unit 100.
[0036]
The confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90 uses the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure transferred from the dialogue cost calculation unit 50 and its dialogue cost for each provision information type transferred from the provision information type decision unit 30. Then, in the confirmation necessity search type interactive procedure for confirming the confirmation attribute transferred from the confirmation type cost determining unit 70, the interactive procedure having the minimum interactive cost is selected, and the provided information type determining unit 30 The expected value of the conversation cost is calculated in consideration of the probability of the provided information type transferred from the server, and the expected value is generated as a confirmation attribute search necessity cost for the confirmation attribute, and transferred to the output unit 100 together with the confirmation attribute. . Further, the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90 generates a response sentence output according to the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure transferred from the dialogue cost calculation unit 50, and transfers it to the output unit 100.
[0037]
The sentence output unit 100 is transferred from the confirmation type cost determination unit 70, the confirmation type cost transferred from the immediate response type cost determination unit 80, and the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90. Compared with the search necessity cost. By this comparison, if the immediate response type cost is minimum, a response sentence transferred from the immediate response type cost determination unit 80 is output, and if the confirmation type cost is minimum, the confirmation attribute transferred from the confirmation type cost determination unit 70 Output a confirmation message to confirm. If the confirmation necessity search type cost is minimum, a response sentence transferred from the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90 is output, and a confirmation necessity search start signal is transmitted to the control unit 110. When the control unit 110 transmits a forced confirmation signal after transmitting the confirmation necessity search start signal to the control unit 110, in order to confirm the confirmation attribute transmitted from the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90. Outputs the confirmation message.
[0038]
The control unit 110 stores that a confirmation necessity search start signal has been sent from the output unit 100. When it is stored that the confirmation necessity search start signal has been transmitted, if a response denial signal is transmitted from the sentence understanding unit 20, the control unit 110 transmits a forced confirmation signal to the output unit 100. When the output unit 100 outputs the confirmation sentence according to the forced confirmation signal, the storage of the fact that the confirmation necessity search start signal has been sent is stopped.
[0039]
FIG. 2 shows a process flowchart of the interactive information providing apparatus. In FIG. 2, the processes in steps 201 to 209 correspond to the processes in units 10 to 90 in FIG. 1, and steps 210 and 211 correspond to the processes in the output unit 100 in FIG. 1.
[0040]
Hereinafter, detailed operations of the embodiment of the present invention will be described together with specific examples.
For example, consider an information service for weather information. Assume that there are two types of provided information, weather and warning. It is assumed that the content of the user's inquiry is represented by two attributes, a place and an information type. Assume that the place attribute has values of prefecture names such as Kanagawa Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture, and the information type has values of weather and warning. In addition, 50 locations are registered in the database 120, and the weather category predicted for each location and the type of alarm announced are stored.
[0041]
Assume that the user first inputs a sentence meaning the following information query.
"Tell me about the weather in Kanagawa"
The input unit 10 captures an input sentence from the user and sends it to the sentence understanding 20 (step 201). The sentence understanding unit 20 generates the content of the user inquiry (step 202). The contents of the inquiry generated by the sentence understanding unit 20 are as follows.
{<Location, Kanagawa Prefecture, not yet>, <Information type, weather, not yet>}
[0042]
At this point, there is no attribute approved by the user. Thereafter, it is assumed that the information providing apparatus confirms that the value of the information type is weather, and the user has approved the confirmation.
In this situation, the contents of the query are expressed as follows:
{<Place, Kanagawa, not yet>, <information type, weather, finished>}
The provided information type determination unit 30 determines the provided information type and its probability based on the inquiry content (step 203). Here, weather is generated as the provided information type. Since there is only one provided information type, the probability of the information type of weather is 1. When there are a plurality of provided information types, for example, the probabilities of the provided information types may be calculated assuming that the probabilities of the provided information types are equal.
[0043]
The dialog procedure generating unit 40 generates a confirmation-type dialog procedure, an immediate response-type dialog procedure, and a confirmation-needs-search-type dialog procedure based on the inquiry contents of the user at this time (steps). 204). There are various interactive procedures. For simplicity, only the following confirmation type interactive procedure A, immediate response type interactive procedure B, and confirmation necessity search type interactive procedure C are considered here.
[0044]
The confirmation-type dialogue procedure A is for confirming the value of one attribute of location until the user's approval is input, and then transmitting information on what the weather of the location approved by the user is. This is a procedure of generating one response sentence.
[0045]
The immediate response type interactive procedure B is a procedure in which the forecasted weather is transmitted to all locations in the database according to only the approved information type without confirming the location.
[0046]
The confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure C outputs a response sentence that tells the weather in Kanagawa Prefecture without confirming the location, assuming that the current inquiry content is correct, and when the response sentence is incorrect This is an interactive procedure in which the user denies the user, and if the user rejects, the dialogue is redone, and in the redoed dialogue, the response text is output based on the approved content after confirming the location.
[0047]
The dialogue cost calculation unit 50 calculates each dialogue cost of the dialogue procedures A, B, and C (step 205). First, the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure A is considered. The dialogue cost is an expected value of the sum of the number of confirmation sentences and the number of response sentences. Here, a model is adopted in which the number of confirmation sentences is estimated to be the reciprocal of the recognition rate of the attribute to be confirmed. The location recognition rate is assumed to be 0.9. Under this recognition rate, the number of confirmation sentences required to confirm one attribute of place is the reciprocal of 0.9, that is, 1.1. There is one response sentence. Therefore, the dialogue cost of the confirmation type dialogue procedure A is 2.2. Next, the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure B is considered. In the dialogue procedure B, there are zero confirmation sentences. The number of response sentences depends on the number of places registered in the database 120. Here, the number of places in the database 120 is 50. Therefore, the dialogue procedure B outputs 50 response sentences, and the dialogue cost of the immediate response type dialogue procedure B is 50.
[0048]
Next, the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure C will be considered. First, assume that the current inquiry is correct. Since the probability of being correct in Kanagawa Prefecture is 0.9, the probability that the current inquiry is correct is 0.9. In the dialog procedure C, confirmation is not performed first, and a response sentence is generated on the assumption that the content of the inquiry is correct. Therefore, the number of confirmation sentences is zero. The response sentence is one of “The weather in Kanagawa Prefecture is fine”. Therefore, when the inquiry content is correct (probability = 0.9), the dialogue cost is 1.
[0049]
Next, consider the case where the current inquiry is not correct. The probability that the inquiry content is incorrect is 0.1. In this case, after outputting one response sentence that “the weather in Kanagawa Prefecture is fine”, the user inputs a disapproval sentence that means disapproval and restarts the dialogue. In the redoed dialogue, the location attribute is checked. The expected value of the number of confirmation sentences is 1.9. There is one response sentence that follows. Eventually, one incorrect response sentence is output first, and if the response sentence is incorrect, the dialog is restarted, and 2.2 confirmation sentences and one response sentence are output. 3.2.
[0050]
If the inquiry content is correct, the dialog cost is 1 with a probability of 0.9, and if the inquiry content is incorrect, the dialog cost is 3.2 with a probability of 0.1. Eventually, the expected value of the dialogue cost of the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure C is 0.9 × 1 + 0.1 × 3.2 = 1.2.
[0051]
The dialogue cost calculation unit 50 sends the confirmation-type dialogue procedure A and its dialogue cost (= 2.2) to the confirmation-type cost determination unit 70, and the immediate-response type dialogue procedure B and its dialogue cost (= 50) as an immediate response. The confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure C and the dialogue cost (= 1.2) are transferred to the confirmation cost search type cost determination unit 90, respectively. The confirmation attribute candidate generation unit 60 generates all combinations of attributes not approved by the user in the inquiry content as confirmation attribute candidates (step 206). Here, a place property that has not been approved at this time is set as a confirmation attribute candidate.
[0052]
The confirmation type cost determination unit 70 generates a confirmation type cost and a confirmation attribute, and sends them to the output unit 100 (step 207). Now, the confirmation attribute candidate is only one of the location attributes. Therefore, the confirmation attribute generated by the confirmation type cost determination unit 70 is a location attribute, and the confirmation type cost is equal to the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure A and is 2.2.
[0053]
The immediate response type cost determination unit 80 generates an immediate response type cost and a response sentence and sends them to the output unit 100 (step 208). The immediate response type cost generated by the immediate response type cost determination unit 80 is equal to the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure B and is 50. The response sentence is
50 sentences to convey all the forecasted weather to 50 places, such as "Kanagawa is sunny. Cloudy in Tokyo ...".
[0054]
The confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90 generates a confirmation necessity search type cost, a response sentence, and a confirmation attribute, and sends them to the output unit 100 (step 209). The confirmation necessity search type cost generated by the confirmation necessity search type cost determination unit 90 is equal to the dialogue cost of the dialogue procedure C and is 1.2. The response sentence is "Kanagawa is sunny". If the user enters a denial sentence in response to this response sentence, re-interact, select the location attribute as the confirmation attribute, and confirm the location attribute. Output confirmation text.
[0055]
The output unit 100 compares the confirmation type cost, the immediate response type cost, and the confirmation necessity search type cost (step 210), selects the dialogue procedure that is given the minimum dialogue cost, and outputs a confirmation sentence or a response sentence. (Step 211). In the situation assumed now, the cost of searching for confirmation needs is minimized. Therefore, the output unit 100 outputs the response sentence “Kanagawa Prefecture is sunny” transmitted from the confirmation necessity search cost determination unit 90.
[0056]
Thus, since the dialogue cost of the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure C is the minimum, it is possible to carry out a simple dialogue in which a response sentence is output without confirming the location attribute. Furthermore, if the response text is incorrect, the dialog is restarted, and this time the location attribute is confirmed, and then the response text is output according to the approved inquiry content. It is guaranteed that necessary information can be provided in a dialog shorter than A or an immediate response type interactive procedure B. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to avoid an increase in the degree of dissatisfaction of the user accompanying an increase in the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences for the user.
[0057]
The processing functions of some or all of the units in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 can be configured by a computer program, and the program can be executed using the computer to implement the present invention, or in FIG. It goes without saying that the processing procedure shown can be constituted by a computer program and the program can be executed by the computer. In addition, a computer-readable recording medium such as an FD, an MO, a ROM, a memory card, a program for realizing the processing function by the computer, or a program for causing the computer to execute the processing procedure, The program can be recorded on a CD, DVD, removable disk, etc., stored, provided, and the program can be distributed through a network such as the Internet.
[0058]
Moreover, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.
[0059]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the interactive information providing service of the present invention, when a user inputs a sentence meaning an inquiry of information as a character string or a voice, without confirmation to the user, Assuming that the content of the inquiry is correct, a response message is output, and if the content of the inquiry is incorrect, the dialogue is retried after receiving a denial from the user. In accordance with only the contents approved by the user, the expected value of the sum total of the confirmation sentence and the response sentence should be minimized after considering the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure that outputs the response sentence. It is possible to avoid an increase in user dissatisfaction due to an increase in the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences caused by misrecognition etc. To become.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an interactive information providing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a process flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Input section
20 sentence comprehension department
30 Provided information type determination unit
40 Dialog procedure generator
50 Dialogue cost calculator
60 Confirmation attribute candidate generator
70 Confirmation type cost decision part
80 Immediate response type cost decision part
90 Confirmation Need Search Type Cost Determination Unit
100 output section
110 Control unit
120 database

Claims (6)

When the user enters a sentence that signifies an inquiry for information, the user is asked to confirm all or part of the contents of the inquiry, and the confirmation is continued until the sentence that signifies approval is entered by the user. After that, the interactive information providing device that outputs a response to the user side according to the inquiry content,
Confirmation of all or part of the contents of the inquiry, and a confirmation type interactive procedure that responds according to the contents of the inquiry approved by the user, and the contents of the inquiry approved by the user at the present time without confirmation In response to the immediate response type interactive procedure that responds according to the above, the response is made assuming that the content of the inquiry is correct without performing confirmation, and if the denial is rejected from the user side, the conversation is restarted. Means for confirming all or part of an approved inquiry and generating a confirmation-needs search type interactive procedure for responding according to the content of the approved inquiry;
Means for calculating a cost of each of the confirmation type interaction procedure, the immediate response type interaction procedure and the confirmation necessity search type interaction procedure;
Means for comparing each cost and confirming or responding to the user side according to an interactive procedure with a minimum cost;
An interactive information providing apparatus characterized by comprising: The interactive information providing apparatus according to claim 1,
An input means for receiving information inquiries from the user side, approval of confirmation, correction of confirmation, denial of response,
When a user inputs a sentence meaning an information inquiry, the user's inquiry content is set as a set of attributes, attribute values, and a flag indicating whether the attribute value is approved by the user. When the user enters an approval sentence for the confirmation sentence that records and asks for confirmation of the attribute, it records that the value of the attribute has been approved by the user, and the user side requests correction of the inquiry content for the confirmation sentence When the correction sentence is input, the sentence understanding means for adding the attribute and the attribute value to the inquiry content, or replacing the attribute value included in the inquiry content with the attribute value included in the correction content;
From the content of the inquiry, the type of information provided to the user is determined as the provided information type, and the provided information type determining means for calculating the probability of the provided information type,
Dialog procedure generating means for generating a confirmation-type dialog procedure, an immediate response-type dialog procedure, and a confirmation-needs search-type dialog procedure for each of the provided information types,
For each provided information type, estimate the sum of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences included in the confirmation-type dialogue procedure, and generate the sum as the dialogue cost of the confirmation-type dialogue procedure. Estimate the sum of the number of response sentences included, generate the sum as the conversation cost of an immediate response type conversation procedure, and estimate the sum of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences included in the confirmation necessity search type conversation procedure A dialogue cost calculation means for generating the sum as a dialogue cost of a confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure;
Confirmation attribute candidate generation means for generating all combinations of attributes included in the inquiry content not approved by the user as confirmation attribute candidates,
For each confirmation attribute candidate, for each provided information type, select a conversation procedure with the minimum conversation cost in the confirmation type dialogue procedure that confirms the confirmation attribute candidate, and consider the probability of the provided information type. Calculate the expected value of the cost, generate the expected value as the attribute confirmation type cost of the confirmation attribute candidate, compare the attribute confirmation type cost of each confirmation attribute candidate, and select the confirmation attribute candidate with the smallest attribute confirmation type cost Confirmation type cost determining means for generating the attribute as a confirmation attribute and generating the minimum attribute confirmation type cost as the confirmation type cost of the confirmation attribute;
An immediate response type cost determining means for generating the interactive cost of the immediate response type interactive procedure as an immediate response type cost;
In the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure that performs confirmation of confirmation attribute when re-interacting, the dialogue procedure having the smallest dialogue cost is selected for each provided information type, and the dialogue cost is considered in consideration of the probability of the provided information type. A confirmation necessity search type cost determination means for calculating the expected value of and generating the expected value as a confirmation necessity search type cost of the confirmation attribute;
Compare immediate response type cost with confirmation attribute confirmation type cost and confirmation attribute confirmation necessity search type cost, if immediate response type cost is minimum, do not output confirmation text, and confirm the inquiry approved by the user A response sentence is output so that information is provided according to the contents. If the confirmation type cost of the confirmation attribute is minimum, a confirmation sentence for requesting confirmation of the confirmation attribute is output. If it is minimum, a confirmation sentence is not output, a response sentence is output so as to provide information on the assumption that the contents of the inquiry are correct, and if a denial sentence from the user is input to the response sentence, a dialog is displayed. And an output means for outputting a confirmation text for confirming the confirmation attribute in the reconstituted dialogue. When the user enters a sentence that signifies an inquiry for information, the user is asked to confirm all or part of the contents of the inquiry, and the confirmation is continued until the sentence that signifies approval is entered by the user. After that, an interactive information provision processing method in the interactive information provision apparatus that outputs a response to the user side according to the inquiry content,
Confirmation of all or part of the contents of the inquiry, and a confirmation type interactive procedure that responds according to the contents of the inquiry approved by the user, and the contents of the inquiry approved by the user at the present time without confirmation In response to the immediate response type interactive procedure that responds according to the above, the response is made assuming that the content of the inquiry is correct without performing confirmation, and if the denial is rejected from the user side, the conversation is restarted. Generating a confirmation need search type interactive procedure for confirming all or part of an approved inquiry and responding according to the content of the approved inquiry;
Calculating a cost of each of the confirmation type interaction procedure, the immediate response type interaction procedure and the confirmation necessity search type interaction procedure;
Comparing each of the costs, and confirming or responding with the user according to an interactive procedure with the lowest cost;
An interactive information provision processing method characterized by comprising: The interactive information provision processing method according to claim 3,
Receiving information inquiries from users, approving confirmations, correcting confirmations, rejecting responses;
When a user inputs a sentence meaning an information inquiry, the user's inquiry content is set as a set of attributes, attribute values, and a flag indicating whether the attribute value is approved by the user. When the user enters an approval sentence for the confirmation sentence that records and asks for confirmation of the attribute, it records that the value of the attribute has been approved by the user, and the user side requests correction of the inquiry content for the confirmation sentence When the correction text is input, the attribute and the attribute value are added to the query content, or the attribute value included in the correction content is replaced with the attribute value included in the query content,
From the content of the inquiry, determining the type of information provided to the user as the provided information type, and calculating the probability of the provided information type;
Generating a confirmation type interaction procedure, an immediate response type interaction procedure and a confirmation necessity search type interaction procedure for each of the provided information types;
For each provided information type, estimate the sum of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences included in the confirmation-type dialogue procedure, and generate the sum as the dialogue cost of the confirmation-type dialogue procedure. Estimate the sum of the number of response sentences included, generate the sum as the conversation cost of an immediate response type conversation procedure, and estimate the sum of the number of confirmation sentences and response sentences included in the confirmation necessity search type conversation procedure And generating the sum as a dialogue cost of a confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure,
Generating all combinations of attributes included in the inquiry content not approved by the user as confirmation attribute candidates;
For each confirmation attribute candidate, for each provided information type, select a conversation procedure with the minimum conversation cost in the confirmation type dialogue procedure that confirms the confirmation attribute candidate, and consider the probability of the provided information type. Calculate the expected value of the cost, generate the expected value as the attribute confirmation type cost of the confirmation attribute candidate, compare the attribute confirmation type cost of each confirmation attribute candidate, and select the confirmation attribute candidate with the smallest attribute confirmation type cost Generating the attribute as a confirmation attribute, generating the minimum attribute confirmation cost as the confirmation attribute cost of the confirmation attribute,
Generating an interaction cost of an immediate response interactive procedure as an immediate response cost;
In the confirmation necessity search type dialogue procedure that performs confirmation of confirmation attribute when re-interacting, the dialogue procedure having the smallest dialogue cost is selected for each provided information type, and the dialogue cost is considered in consideration of the probability of the provided information type. Calculating the expected value of, and generating the expected value as a confirmation necessity search type cost of the confirmation attribute;
Compare immediate response type cost with confirmation attribute confirmation type cost and confirmation attribute confirmation necessity search type cost, if immediate response type cost is minimum, do not output confirmation text, and confirm the inquiry approved by the user A response sentence is output so that information is provided according to the contents. If the confirmation type cost of the confirmation attribute is minimum, a confirmation sentence for requesting confirmation of the confirmation attribute is output. If it is minimum, a confirmation sentence is not output, a response sentence is output so as to provide information on the assumption that the contents of the inquiry are correct, and if a denial sentence from the user is input to the response sentence, a dialog is displayed. And a step of outputting a confirmation text for confirming the confirmation attribute in the reconstituted dialogue. A program for causing a computer to execute the interactive information provision processing method according to claim 3. 5. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the interactive information provision processing method according to claim 3 is recorded.

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