WO2014130499A1 - Groupe d'agents personnalisés pour interaction avec de multiples fournisseurs automatisés - Google Patents

Groupe d'agents personnalisés pour interaction avec de multiples fournisseurs automatisés Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2014130499A1
WO2014130499A1 PCT/US2014/017024 US2014017024W WO2014130499A1 WO 2014130499 A1 WO2014130499 A1 WO 2014130499A1 US 2014017024 W US2014017024 W US 2014017024W WO 2014130499 A1 WO2014130499 A1 WO 2014130499A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
agent
automated
provider
interaction
personal
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2014/017024
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Edward Fredkin
Original Assignee
Edward Fredkin
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Edward Fredkin filed Critical Edward Fredkin
Publication of WO2014130499A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014130499A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates to commerce and communications, electronic commerce, Internet based commerce and in
  • a typical user interacts with many web sites and other automated providers of goods and services. Each such
  • the invention is based on the recognition that
  • workflows associated with providers, whether automated or otherwise, and preferences and personal data associated with principals can all stored in a memory accessible to a machine and that such machines can provide an interface between different providers, whether automated or otherwise, and a particular principal.
  • the invention features an apparatus for enabling interaction with an automated provider.
  • Such an apparatus includes a database of personal information, an interaction encyclopedia, and an automated personal agent that interacts with an automated provider based on an entry in that interaction encyclopedia.
  • the agent is configured to
  • the agent is configured to interact with an automated provider having a web-based site.
  • the agent is configured to interact with an automated provider having an interface via voice and/or a telephone keypad interface.
  • the agent can be configured to work with any interface that a human being can work with.
  • the agent is configured to
  • the agent is configured to interact with an automated
  • an agent can be configured to work with any interface that a human being can work with.
  • an agent successfully interacts telephonically with a human being employed by a provider, either on its own via speech recognition and speech
  • interaction encyclopedia includes a first entry
  • the interaction encyclopedia includes a first entry containing instructions for executing workflow in a first automated provider, and a second entry
  • the personal agent is configured to detect an inability to complete a workflow associated with an automated provider.
  • the personal agent is configured to be programmed to improve an extent to which it interacts with the automated provider. This process is assisted by the fact that an abstracted history of all such
  • the personal agent is configured to solicit human assistance, from experienced, trained specialists, while improving its ability to interact with the automated provider.
  • the personal agent can automatically shop for items based on price, brand, and delivery details and can order such items for the principal while taking into consideration its knowledge of the desires and characteristics of the
  • the personal agent communicates via texting. Additional embodiments include those in which an agent sets up appointments, manages the principal's calendar, and sets up conference calls or videoconferences .
  • the personal agent is programmable to perform almost any and every task that could have also have been done by an experienced human personal assistant.
  • a principal arranges for his agent to perform or attempt to perform a task that is new to the system of personal agents.
  • one or more trained humans may assist the agent.
  • Other embodiments are arranged so that upon determining that human personal assistants are successfully handling a class of actions, those actions are stored and analyzed. Then, based on various considerations such as the frequency or the value of those actions, those actions are scheduled to be
  • personal agent is configured to attempt to predict, based on past experience, a procedure for interacting with the automated provider.
  • every aspect of the software that supports the work and interaction activity of the personal is programmable in such a way as to minimize one or both of the total time spent by the principal and time the
  • the invention includes a system designed and implemented to respond in a meaningful and useful way to any and every input from the principal in less than 100 milliseconds (1/10 of a second) .
  • every step in the process of communicating to the personal agent will minimize both the total interaction time and the reaction delays in responding to every input from the principal .
  • This aspect of the operation of a system according to the invention can most often be accomplished by having all of the software and data that is involved in receiving and understanding a request that the principal is likely to make to the agent reside locally, to the extent it is possible and practical to do so, in the device that the principal uses to make the request, examples including but not limited to the principal's computer, cellphone, tablet, and iPad TM. Any clarification needed in order to understand the exact intention of the principal takes place in this local device.
  • the principal's request is then communicated by the fastest means practical after being encoded into a space efficient form, by such communication media including, but not limited to LAN, a cell-phone network, or a similar medium for rapid digital communication.
  • the system guarantees its rapid response time by prohibiting the implementation, during the software development process, of any method that cannot be made to deliver the specified performance.
  • the apparatus claimed herein is understood to not be “software per se” and is understood to be a tangible device having mass and that consumes energy during operation thereof. To the extent that the apparatus can be viewed as having embodiments that can be viewed as intangible
  • the invention features a computer-implemented method that is tied to a particular tangible and physical machine for enabling interaction with an automated provider.
  • a method includes providing a database of personal information, an interaction
  • providing a personal agent includes configuring the agent to interact with an automated
  • providing the interaction encyclopedia includes providing a first entry therein corresponding to a first automated provider and a second entry therein
  • providing the personal agent includes configuring the agent to solicit aid from support staff in completing a workflow associated with an automated provider.
  • providing the personal agent includes configuring the agent to
  • providing the agent includes configuring the agent to solicit human
  • providing the personal agent includes configuring the agent to attempt to predict, based on past experience, a
  • the invention includes a non- transitory and tangible computer-readable medium, the medium having encoded thereon software for enabling
  • the computer-readable medium recited in the claims is a tangible and non-transitory type of the form that is compliant with 35 USC 101 as of the time of the filing of this application. Those forms of computer-readable media that are not compliant with 35 USC 101 are specifically disclaimed.
  • FIGURES include those in which the personal agent is configured to solicit assistance from support staff in completing a workflow associated with an automated provider .
  • FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a system implementing the invention.
  • a personal agent pool 10 features multiple personal agents 12A, 12B, 12C...12Z, each of which is associated with a corresponding principal database 14A, 14B, 14C...14Z.
  • a principal database 14A includes information that would be useful in carrying out, on behalf of a principal 16A, transactions at web sites or voice interface systems associated with stores, commercial establishments, medical facilities, entertainment facilities, government agencies, postal services, and any other system that provides a structured workflow that can be used to provide goods or services. Collectively, these will be referred to as "automated providers 18A-Z" that are in communication with the agent pool 10 via a communication network 20.
  • Information stored in a principal database 14A can include identifying information, data identifying available forms of payment, data identifying any affinity or loyalty accounts associated with various vendors, data identifying discounts available, clothing and shoe sizes, and data identifying principal preferences, for example whether a principal 16A prefers aisle seats, whether a principal 16A has an aversion to being on the 13 th floor, whether a principal 16A has any food allergies, and so on.
  • the Brand preferences of the principal 16A along with various other sorts of personal preferences, such as temporal preferences involving day of the week, holiday, weekend, time of day, etc. can also be taken into account.
  • a personal agent 12A is in communication with a particular principal database 14A. As a result, a personal agent 12A has access to considerable useful information about that principal 16A.
  • a personal agent 12A is also in communication with an interface to a current interface encyclopedia 22.
  • the interface encyclopedia 22 includes entries 24A-24Z for each of a very large number of automated providers 18A-18Z.
  • a useful feature of an automated provider 18A is that there generally exists a step-by-step procedure that can be followed to accomplish some task. When this procedure is repeatable, it is possible to program the personal agent
  • This programming is generally carried out by a human programmer. However, having been done once for a particular personal agent 12A, the resulting program can be used by all other personal agents 12B-12Z.
  • a personal agent 14A can learn autonomously and modify its own instructions to follow the interaction with the
  • the interface encyclopedia 22 includes entries 24A-24Z that, for a
  • the personal agent 12A can thus function as an
  • the personal agent 12A can accomplish tasks with minimal intervention by the principal, and in a way that complies with the principal's preferences .
  • the software that implements the personal agent 12A makes use of effectively parallel computation techniques in order to better achieve the goal that its principal 16A has provided.
  • CATCHA is a spatially distorted set of letters and/or numbers that only a human can decipher.
  • a principal 16A wishes to leave Boston for Manhattan by train the next morning and return the following evening.
  • the principal 16A communicates this to the personal agent 12A. This could be done by simply saying that request during a voice interaction with the personal agent 12A, relying on voice recognition, along with stored information related to the principal 16A to establish the identity and other details of the principal's intentions to the personal agent 12A.
  • the personal agent can, in the case where similar travel has been booked
  • the personal agent 12A could reply by voice and or by email of its understanding of the request, such as by elaborating the details of the proposed reservations which include aspects known to the personal agent 12A from prior interactions such as desired class of service, choice of seats, taxis or limos to or from the train stations, etc. This allows the principal 16A to confirm, modify or cancel the proposed arrangements. Or, a standard more formal
  • the personal agent 12A Upon receiving the instruction, the personal agent 12A reads the principal's personal database 14A and retrieves the information that the principal's preferred mode of train travel is by the Acela high-speed train. The personal agent 12A also retrieves information from the database 14A, that the principal 16A prefers a morning seat on the west side of the car and an evening seat on the East side of the car. The personal agent 12A then consults the interface encyclopedia 22 and retrieves the entry 24A for the train service provider 18A. Based on that entry 24A, the personal agent 12A begins to interact with the automated provider
  • the personal agent 12A might know that it should communicate a number of travel options to the principal 16A and awaits confirmation. Upon receiving confirmation, the personal agent 12A
  • the principal 16A is spared the trouble of interacting with automated provider 18A.
  • the personal agent 12A can then automatically print out, on the appropriate printer, whatever printed documents are needed by the principal 16A.
  • the agent 12A may be unsure of what to do. Under these circumstances, the agent 12A can pose
  • agent 12A may request human intervention from a staff 26 of trained personnel.
  • agent 12A is not
  • the personal agent 12A recognizes that the process is not proceeding as it should, for example by noting that the process differs from a structure such as a conditional tree structure stored in a memory thereof as being representative of a potential dialog with the
  • the personal agent 12A preferably includes a loop detector. This is accomplished by always having the personal agent 12A compare what it plans to do with what it has recently done. To the extent these share a characteristic in common, this enables the personal agent
  • the agent 12A includes a loop detector that translates records of an agent's actions or communications into a high level descriptive language. This facilitates detection and avoidance of repetition that might otherwise be masked by minor differences in the
  • the object of the loop detection system is to avoid the possibility of the agent falling into various kinds of repetitive actions that do not efficiently advance the accomplishment of its goals.
  • An example of such a possible loop is as follows: The agent 12A seeks to book the
  • the agent 12A notes that there are two candidate flights: one is on a first carrier and another on a second carrier. The agent 12A notes that although there are seats available on the first carrier, none of those seats are of the type the principal would prefer. The agent 12A then notes that there are no non-stop flights on the second carrier. The agent 12A then returns to the first carrier, and then to the second carrier as it attempts to find a flight with the required combination of characteristics preferred by the principal .
  • the complexity of a good and effective agent program requires an explicit introspective mechanism to cope effectively and efficiently with the general problem of avoiding loops, especially more complex loops, either during contemplative activity, during interactive activity with either the principal or various providers or under any other circumstances.
  • a personal agent 12A can also engage in rudimentary conversation with a live provider 18B. For example, when waiting for technical support, a personal agent 12A can wait in a queue for live assistance, and, upon detecting a live operator, cause a telephone call to be placed to the principal 16A so that the principal 16A can take the agent's place and continue the conversation. While doing so, the agent 12A, based on information culled from the principal database 14A, can read off a serial number or other personal information that would routinely be requested by technical support staff.
  • the personal agent 12A can thus carry out requests in much the same way that an intelligent personal human personal assistant might. For example, the agent 12A could book a flight and hotel on line, select class and seat locations, and specify any special meals. It could do so not just for one airline and hotel but for every airline and hotel that maintains an automated provider 18C. The personal agent 12A would then present its proposed
  • the personal agent 12A would proceed to consummate the transaction.
  • An advanced version of the personal agent 12A could accomplish many goals on behalf of the principal, by means of telephonic voice communications with various human beings or automated voice recognition systems. For example, when the principal wishes to have the agent 12A book a room in a small rural inn that has no website and where the phone is answered by a person, the agent 12A could either attempt to arrange the booking by use of speech synthesis and speech recognition or it could request the assistance of a human agent. By listening in on the conversation between the human agent and the innkeeper, the automated personal agent 12A could compare its own contemplated actions and communications with those of a skilled and experienced human agent in order to improve its
  • the human agent could, after completion of the interaction, give a useful evaluation as to whether or not the situation was a typical one likely to often occur, or perhaps a strange one-time situation where no useful modifications of the programmed agent 12A's behavior are indicated.
  • agent 12A could react to various things from experiences. However what is significant is that when there is an instance where the agent 12A acquires the ability to do something useful, the information acquired could eventually become part of the memory of every acting agent 12A. While this is useful in allowing the entire agent system to grow into a more intelligent and capable system, that process must proceed with caution and
  • the workflow at an automated provider 18A may have been changed in a way that makes it difficult for the personal agent 12A to carry out its function.
  • the personal agent 12A has its own technical support line linked to live trained personnel 26 who can assist the personal agent 12A. In doing so, the trained personnel 26 will have a basis for providing information that could be used for updating the interface encyclopedia 22, thus ensuring that the next personal agent 12A that is asked to carry out that task will have the necessary knowledge and capabilities to do so.
  • Websites are constructed using HTML and related
  • Such sites can be analyzed for recognizable entry fields, such as fields requesting the user to enter their first and last names.
  • the system can recognize when a site is completely new, or is a known site but has undergone modification since it was last analyzed. In these cases, the system may proceed
  • the system may also use Bayesian
  • Patent No. 7254569 the contents of which are herein

Abstract

Un appareil automatisé, conçu pour permettre une interaction avec un fournisseur automatisé, comprend une base de données d'informations personnelles, une encyclopédie d'interactions et un agent personnel automatisé, assisté parfois par une personne servant d'agent personnel, qui interagit avec un fournisseur automatisé sur la base de procédures stockées dans ladite encyclopédie d'interactions.
PCT/US2014/017024 2013-02-21 2014-02-19 Groupe d'agents personnalisés pour interaction avec de multiples fournisseurs automatisés WO2014130499A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US201361767450P 2013-02-21 2013-02-21
US61/767,450 2013-02-21

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2014130499A1 true WO2014130499A1 (fr) 2014-08-28

Family

ID=51391748

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2014/017024 WO2014130499A1 (fr) 2013-02-21 2014-02-19 Groupe d'agents personnalisés pour interaction avec de multiples fournisseurs automatisés

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2014130499A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2019022850A1 (fr) * 2017-07-28 2019-01-31 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Rediffusion de conversations destinée à une délégation et à un achèvement de tâche

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20010044676A1 (en) * 1998-09-11 2001-11-22 Christopher Clemmett Macleod Beck Interface engine for managing business processes within a multimedia communication-center
US20020032591A1 (en) * 2000-09-08 2002-03-14 Agentai, Inc. Service request processing performed by artificial intelligence systems in conjunctiion with human intervention
US6721416B1 (en) * 1999-12-29 2004-04-13 International Business Machines Corporation Call centre agent automated assistance
US20100061529A1 (en) * 2003-05-05 2010-03-11 Interactions Corporation Apparatus and method for processing service interactions

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20010044676A1 (en) * 1998-09-11 2001-11-22 Christopher Clemmett Macleod Beck Interface engine for managing business processes within a multimedia communication-center
US6721416B1 (en) * 1999-12-29 2004-04-13 International Business Machines Corporation Call centre agent automated assistance
US20020032591A1 (en) * 2000-09-08 2002-03-14 Agentai, Inc. Service request processing performed by artificial intelligence systems in conjunctiion with human intervention
US20100061529A1 (en) * 2003-05-05 2010-03-11 Interactions Corporation Apparatus and method for processing service interactions

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2019022850A1 (fr) * 2017-07-28 2019-01-31 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Rediffusion de conversations destinée à une délégation et à un achèvement de tâche
US10742571B2 (en) 2017-07-28 2020-08-11 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Replay of conversations for task completion and delegation

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US11769184B2 (en) Enhancing functionalities of virtual assistants and dialog systems via plugin marketplace
CN110720090B (zh) 通过个体命令调用自动化助理来执行多个任务
AU2016354551B2 (en) Method and apparatus for linking customer interactions with customer messaging platforms
US20210027257A1 (en) Systems and methods for operating an interactive repair facility including automatic parts tracking and ordering
KR20210072792A (ko) 자동화된 채팅 봇 프로세싱
US20140278605A1 (en) System and method of completing an activity via an agent
WO2016160978A1 (fr) Procédé et appareil pour faciliter une représentation sans état d'états de flux d'interaction
US11734617B2 (en) Online seamen travel ticket booking
US11763804B2 (en) Leveraging dialogue history in updated dialogue
WO2014130499A1 (fr) Groupe d'agents personnalisés pour interaction avec de multiples fournisseurs automatisés
EP3399495A1 (fr) Kiosques interactifs
CN109783627B (zh) 自动应答的方法、装置、计算机设备及存储介质
US11704669B1 (en) Dynamic contactless payment processing based on real-time contextual information
US11681763B2 (en) Systems of apps using AI bots for one family member to share memories and life experiences with other family members
CN103262581A (zh) 移动服务预订系统
US10970737B2 (en) System and process for automatically generating rewards with ticket sales
EP3770772A1 (fr) Recommandation proactive à partir d'un système de dialogue multidomaines prenant en charge la découverte de services
KR20220014739A (ko) 위치기반 약속 공유 서비스 플랫폼
CN113835860A (zh) 多程序协同服务方法、装置、电子设备和存储介质
CN117634655A (zh) 一种基于票务垂直领域特化的自研大语言模型
CN115330491A (zh) 下单方法、装置、设备及存储介质
CN117436975A (zh) 抢票方法、设备及存储介质
CN115689555A (zh) 一种订单支付系统、方法、装置、存储介质及电子设备
CN115392519A (zh) 银行网点的预约取号方法及装置
CN111784012A (zh) 基于多轮语言交互的订票方法及终端

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 14753667

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 14753667

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1