Conversational agent dialog flow user interface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020004874-A1
Application number	US-201816024557-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 29, 2018
Priority date	Jun 29, 2018
Publication date	Jan 2, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

One embodiment provides a method, including: obtaining a plurality of chatlogs involving a conversational agent, wherein the plurality of chatlogs represent interactions between users and the conversational agent; identifying dialog states of the conversational agent, wherein each dialog state corresponds to a possible response by the conversational agent; generating a dialog tree including one or more dialog flows of the conversational agent, wherein a dialog flow represents an interaction that occurred between the conversational agent and a user; and providing a conversational reflow user interface for a conversational reflow system allowing execution of the conversational agent to mimic interactions between users and the conversational agent, wherein the conversational reflow system advances through dialog flows based upon input provided by a user at the conversational reflow user interface and the conversational reflow user interface displays output based upon the dialog states of the dialog tree.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
obtaining a plurality of chatlogs involving a conversational agent, wherein the plurality of chatlogs represent interactions between users and the conversational agent; identifying dialog states of the conversational agent, wherein each dialog state corresponds to a possible response by the conversational agent; generating, from the plurality of chatlogs, a dialog tree including one or more dialog flows of the conversational agent, wherein a dialog flow represents an interaction that occurred between the conversational agent and a user and wherein the dialog tree (i) includes possible dialog states of the conversational agent and (ii) identifies the frequency of transitions between identified dialog states; and providing a conversational reflow user interface for a conversational reflow system, the conversational reflow system allowing execution of the conversational agent to mimic interactions between users and the conversational agent, wherein the execution is based upon the dialog tree, wherein the conversational reflow system advances through dialog flows based upon input provided by a user at the conversational reflow user interface and the conversational reflow user interface displays output based upon the dialog states of the dialog tree.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying dialog states comprises (i) identifying conversational turns from the plurality of chatlogs and (ii) classifying each of the identified conversational turns.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying dialog states comprises (i) accessing a model corresponding to the conversational agent and (ii) identifying dialog states from the accessed model.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dialog tree comprises a plurality of (i) nodes and (ii) edges, each edge connecting two of the plurality of nodes, wherein the nodes represent dialog states and wherein the edges represent the frequency of transitions between the connected nodes.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein each edge has a corresponding cluster of user utterances representing user responses that result in the transition from one dialog state connected by the edge to a second dialog state connected by the edge.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conversational reflow user interface provides an auto mode that advances through the dialog flow by automatically generating user utterances to transition from one dialog state to another dialog state.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the conversational reflow user interface provides an icon that generates a dialog flow breakpoint.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the conversational reflow user interface provides an icon that, in auto mode, causes the conversational reflow system to advance through the dialog flow automatically to the dialog flow breakpoint.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conversational reflow user interface provides an icon that returns to a previous dialog state.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conversational reflow user interface provides a standard mode that advances through the dialog flow based upon user responses provided by a user.

11 . An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor; and a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith and executable by the at least one processor, the computer readable program code comprising: computer readable program code configured to obtain a plurality of chatlogs involving a conversational agent, wherein the plurality of chatlogs represent interactions between users and the conversational agent; computer readable program code configured to identify dialog states of the conversational agent, wherein each dialog state corresponds to a possible response by the conversational agent; computer readable program code configured to generate, from the plurality of chatlogs, a dialog tree including one or more dialog flows of the conversational agent, wherein a dialog flow represents an interaction that occurred between the conversational agent and a user and wherein the dialog tree (i) includes possible dialog states of the conversational agent and (ii) identifies the frequency of transitions between identified dialog states; and computer readable program code configured to provide a conversational reflow user interface for a conversational reflow system, the conversational reflow system allowing execution of the conversational agent to mimic interactions between users and the conversational agent, wherein the execution is based upon the dialog tree, wherein the conversational reflow system advances through dialog flows based upon input provided by a user at the conversational reflow user interface and the conversational reflow user interface displays output based upon the dialog states of the dialog tree.

12 . A computer program product, comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code executable by a processor and comprising: computer readable program code configured to obtain a plurality of chatlogs involving a conversational agent, wherein the plurality of chatlogs represent interactions between users and the conversational agent; computer readable program code configured to identify dialog states of the conversational agent, wherein each dialog state corresponds to a possible response by the conversational agent; computer readable program code configured to generate, from the plurality of chatlogs, a dialog tree including one or more dialog flows of the conversational agent, wherein a dialog flow represents an interaction that occurred between the conversational agent and a user and wherein the dialog tree (i) includes possible dialog states of the conversational agent and (ii) identifies the frequency of transitions between identified dialog states; and computer readable program code configured to provide a conversational reflow user interface for a conversational reflow system, the conversational reflow system allowing execution of the conversational agent to mimic interactions between users and the conversational agent, wherein the execution is based upon the dialog tree, wherein the conversational reflow system advances through dialog flows based upon input provided by a user at the conversational reflow user interface and the conversational reflow user interface displays output based upon the dialog states of the dialog tree.

13 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the identifying dialog states comprises (i) identifying conversational turns from the plurality of chatlogs and (ii) classifying each of the identified conversational turns.

14 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the identifying dialog states comprises (i) accessing a model corresponding to the conversational agent and (ii) identifying dialog states from the accessed model.

15 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the dialog tree comprises a plurality of (i) nodes and (ii) edges, each edge connecting two of the plurality of nodes;
wherein the nodes represent dialog states and wherein the edges represent the frequency of transitions between the connected nodes; and wherein each edge has a corresponding cluster of user utterances representing user responses that result in the transition from one dialog state connected by the edge to a second dialog state connected by the edge.

16 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the conversational reflow user interface provides an au

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Gupta Ajay Kumar
• Kumar Pratyush
• Joshi Sachindra

Classifications

• G06F3/04817

  using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) · CPC title

• G06F9/451 Primary

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title

• G06F3/167

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G06F16/3329 Primary

  Natural language query formulation · CPC title

• G10L2015/225

  Feedback of the input speech · CPC title