Conversation Advisor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016182410-A1
Application number	US-201414573647-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 17, 2014
Priority date	Dec 17, 2014
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for assisting the authoring of electronic messages are disclosed. Operations performed according to an example embodiment may include:
accessing an electronic message stored in digital form in a computer memory; inspecting the electronic message to identify intended recipients of the electronic message; gathering and analyzing historical data stored in digital form in a computer memory relating to a conversation history that links an author of the electronic message to the intended recipients; performing semantic analysis on the electronic message to extract words and phrases representing recipient fitness information that is indicative of whether the electronic message is appropriate for the intended recipients; generating a fitness result for the electronic message by comparing the recipient fitness information to the historical data and identifying inconsistencies; and outputting the fitness result for viewing on an electronic display device associated with the author of the electronic message.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A machine-implemented method for assisting the authoring of electronic messages, comprising:
accessing an electronic message stored in digital form in a computer memory; inspecting said electronic message to identify intended recipients of said electronic message; gathering and analyzing historical data stored in digital form in a computer memory relating to a conversation history that links an author of said electronic message to said intended recipients; performing semantic analysis on said electronic message to extract words and phrases representing recipient fitness information that is indicative of whether said electronic message is appropriate for said intended recipients; generating a fitness result for said electronic message by comparing said recipient fitness information to said historical data and identifying inconsistencies; and outputting said fitness result for viewing on an electronic display device associated with said author of said electronic message.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a tone of said electronic message that reflects whether said electronic message is directed to a single recipient or a group of recipients, and if said electronic message is directed to a group of recipients, generating a fitness result that is conservative by ensuring that said electronic message is appropriate for all of said recipients.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a manner in which said intended recipients are addressed in a recipient salutation.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases representing proper names, nicknames and genders associated with said intended recipients.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a level of formality of said electronic message.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said fitness result output comprises advice to said author of said electronic message concerning instances wherein said recipient fitness information is inconsistent with said intended recipients.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further including receiving an input indicating that said advice in said fitness result output is incorrect relative to an instance wherein said recipient fitness information is inconsistent with said intended recipients, and updating said historical data based on said input to specify that said recipient fitness information is consistent with said intended recipients.

8 . A system, comprising:
one or more processors; a memory operatively coupled to said one or more processors; program instructions stored in said memory, said program instructions being executable by said one or more processors to perform operations for assisting the authoring of electronic messages, said operations comprising: accessing an electronic message stored in digital form in a computer memory; inspecting said electronic message to identify intended recipients of said electronic message; gathering and analyzing historical data stored in digital form in a computer memory relating to a conversation history that links an author of said electronic message to said intended recipients; performing semantic analysis on said electronic message to extract words and phrases representing recipient fitness information that is indicative of whether said electronic message is appropriate for said intended recipients; generating a fitness result for said electronic message by comparing said recipient fitness information to said historical data and identifying inconsistencies; and outputting said fitness result for viewing on an electronic display device associated with said author of said electronic message.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a tone of said electronic message that reflects whether said electronic message is directed to a single recipient or a group of recipients, and if said electronic message is directed to a group of recipients, generating a fitness result that is conservative by ensuring that said electronic message is appropriate for all of said recipients.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a manner in which said intended recipients are addressed in a recipient salutation.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases representing proper names, nicknames and genders associated with said intended recipients.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a level of formality of said electronic message.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said fitness result output comprises advice to said author of said electronic message concerning instances wherein said recipient fitness information is inconsistent with said intended recipients.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein said operations further include receiving an input indicating that said advice in said fitness result output is incorrect relative to an instance wherein said recipient fitness information is inconsistent with said intended recipients, and updating said historical data based on said input to specify that said recipient fitness information is consistent with said intended recipients.

15 . A computer program product, comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage media; program instructions stored on said one or more media, said program instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform operations for assisting the authoring of electronic messages, said operations comprising: accessing an electronic message stored in digital form in a computer memory; inspecting said electronic message to identify intended recipients of said electronic message; gathering and analyzing historical data stored in digital form in a computer memory relating to a conversation history that links an author of said electronic message to said intended recipients; performing semantic analysis on said electronic message to extract words and phrases representing recipient fitness information that is indicative of whether said electronic message is appropriate for said intended recipients; generating a fitness result for said electronic message by comparing said recipient fitness information to said historical data and identifying inconsistencies; and outputting said fitness result for viewing on an electronic display device associated with said author of said electronic message.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a tone of said electronic message that reflects whether said electronic message is directed to a single recipient or a group of recipients, and if said electronic message is directed to a group of recipients, generating a fitness result that is conservative by ensuring that said electronic message is appropriate for all of said recipients.

17 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases indicating a manner in which said intended recipients are addressed in a recipient salutation.

18 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein said recipient fitness information comprises words or phrases representing proper names, nick

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Janakiraman Janani
• Kostick Megan D
• Madden Dany R
• Sripal Meenakshi
• Voigt Wendel G

Classifications

• H04L51/063 Primary

  Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content · CPC title

• G06F40/30 Primary

  Semantic analysis · CPC title

• G06F17/2785

  Physics · mapped topic

• H04L51/02 Primary

  using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages · CPC title