ROW: Addressing Misunderstandings in Dialogue

阻碍人们使用自然语言与计算机交互的最大障碍之一是，即使对人来说，完全理解语言也是困难的。最近，有一些理论被提出，解释互动者如何做出恰当的行为-即使他们对话语的某一部分的含义存在分歧。这个项目旨在扩展这些想法，以便测试它们的有效性，并将其见解付诸实施。扩展早期工作包括四项任务：启发和收集实例；理论扩展；在扩展模型的逻辑框架内对扩展模型进行评价；以及构建支持用户研究的应用程序。规划活动将包括审查相关文献；对数据收集和验证的候选方法进行初步试验；与与这些问题有关的专门知识的研究人员进行讨论；以及分别与医生和患者讨论医疗信息的两个原型应用程序的构建。在完成这些活动后，将制定一项详细的计划，以便在此之前消除误解。如果计算机能够解决误解，它们将能够更可靠、更有力地理解自然语言，如果它们要帮助那些最需要帮助的人，非计算机专家，这是必不可少的。

One of the biggest roadblocks preventing people from using natural language to interact with computers is that understanding language perfectly is difficult, even for people. Recently, theories have been proposed explaining how interactors can behave appropriately---even if they differ about the meaning of some part of the discourse. This project aims to extend these ideas so that their effectiveness can be tested and their insights put to use. Extending earlier work comprises four tasks: elicitation and collection of examples; theoretical extensions; evaluation of the extended model within its logical framework; and the construction of applications supporting a user study. The planning activities are to include a review of the relevant literature; preliminary experimentation with candidate methods of data collection and validation; discussions with researchers whose expertise bears on these issues; and the construction of two prototype applications that discuss medical information with doctors and patients, respectively. Upon completion of these activities, a detailed plan for extending prior a pproaches to misunderstanding will be developed. If computers can be enabled to address misunderstanding, they will be better able to understand natural language reliably and robustly, which is essential if they are to help those who need them most, non-computer-experts.