Systems and methods for a virtual agent in a cloud computing environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023409837-A1
Application number	US-202318462092-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 6, 2023
Priority date	Mar 19, 2019
Publication date	Dec 21, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

Present embodiments are directed to a virtual agent with improved natural language understanding (NLU) capabilities. The disclosed virtual agent enables topic selection and topic changes during natural language exchanges with a user. The virtual agent is designed to select suitable topic flows to execute based on intents identified in received user utterances, including selection of an initial topic flow in response to a topic identified in a first user utterance, as well as switching between topic flows mid-conversation based on identified topic changes. The virtual agent is also capable of considering all intents and entities conveyed during the conversation, which enables the virtual agent to avoid prompting the user to provide redundant information. Furthermore, the virtual agent is capable of executing topic flows as part of a global topic flow, which enables the virtual agent to perform a number of predefined activities as part of each interaction with the user.

First claim

1 . A method of operating a virtual agent, comprising:
executing a global topic flow that defines a series of nodes having instructions that are executed for each natural language exchange between the virtual agent and a plurality of users, wherein executing the global topic flow comprises:
executing a topic discovery node of the global topic flow, wherein executing the topic discovery node comprises:
receiving a user utterance;
providing the user utterance to a natural language understanding (NLU) service;
receiving, from the NLU service, a scored set of intents and entities derived from the user utterance;
selecting a topic flow in response to determining that an intent from the scored set of intents and entities is associated with the topic flow;
applying entities from the scored set of intents and entities to input nodes of the topic flow; and
executing the topic flow to respond to the user utterance.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the topic discovery node of the global topic flow comprises:
receiving a second user utterance during execution of the topic flow; providing a second user utterance to the NLU service; receiving, from the NLU service, a second scored set of intents and entities derived from the second user utterance; selecting a second topic flow in response to determining that a second intent from the second scored set of intents and entities is associated with the second topic flow; applying entities from the scored set of intents and entities, or the second scored set of intents and entities, or a combination thereof, to data input nodes of the second topic flow; and executing the second topic flow to respond to the second user utterance.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the topic discovery node of the global topic flow is configured to resume execution of the topic flow after completing execution of the second topic flow.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the global topic flow comprises executing a greetings node of the global topic flow that outputs a predefined greeting before executing the topic discovery node.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the global topic flow comprises:
executing an additional topic node of the global topic flow that outputs a predefined prompt regarding additional topics to be discussed after executing the topic discovery node; receiving user input in response to the predefined prompt; and then executing a decision node of the global topic flow that repeats execution of the topic discovery node based on the user input received in response to the predefined prompt.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the user input is a second user utterance, and comprising:
providing the second user utterance to the NLU service; receiving, from the NLU service, a second scored set of intents and entities derived from the second user utterance; and identifying the additional topic to be discussed based on the second scored set of intents and entities derived from the second user utterance.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the predefined prompt includes user interface elements, and wherein receiving the user input comprises receiving the user input based on user interactions with the user interface elements of the predefined prompt.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein executing the global topic flow comprises:
after executing the decision node, executing a survey node of the global topic flow to output a predefined survey question and to receive and store a second user input in response to the predefined survey question.

9 . A virtual agent system, comprising:
at least one memory configured to store a global topic flow that defines a series of nodes having instructions that are executed for each natural language exchange between the virtual agent and a plurality of users; and at least one processor configured to execute the global topic flow to cause the virtual agent system to perform actions comprising:
executing a topic discovery node, wherein the topic discovery node is configured to:
receive a user utterance from a user;
provide the user utterance to a natural language understanding (NLU) service;
receive, from the NLU service, a scored set of intents and entities derived from the user utterance;
select a topic flow in response to determining that an intent from the scored set of intents and entities is associated with the topic flow;
apply entities from the scored set of intents and entities to input nodes of the topic flow; and
execute the topic flow to respond to the user utterance.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the series of nodes includes a greetings node that is executed before the topic discovery node in the global topic flow, wherein the greetings node of the global topic flow is configured to output a predefined greeting to the user.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the series of nodes includes an additional topics node that is executed after the topic discovery node in the global topic flow, wherein the additional topics node of the global topic flow is configured to:
output a predefined prompt to the user asking whether the user has additional topics to be discussed; and receive input from the user in response to the predefined prompt.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the series of nodes includes a decision node that is executed after the additional topics node in the global topic flow, wherein the decision node of the global topic flow is configured to repeat execution of the topic discovery node based on the input received from the user in response to the predefined prompt.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the series of nodes includes a survey node that is executed after the decision node in the global topic flow, wherein the survey node is configured to:
output a predefined survey question to the user; and receive and store user input in response to the predefined survey question.

14 . A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor of a computing system, the instructions comprising instructions to:
execute a global topic flow that defines a series of nodes having instructions that are executed for each natural language exchange between a virtual agent and a plurality of users, wherein the global topic flow comprises instructions to:
execute a topic discovery node of the global topic flow, wherein the topic discovery node comprises instructions to:
receive a user utterance from a user;
provide the user utterance to a natural language understanding (NLU) service;
receive, from the NLU service, a scored set of intents and entities derived from the user utterance;
select a topic flow in response to determining that an intent from the scored set of intents and entities is associated with the topic flow;
apply entities from the scored set of intents and entities to input nodes of the topic flow; and
execute the topic flow to respond to the user utterance.

15 . The medium of claim 14 , wherein the topic discovery node comprises instructions to:
receive a second user utterance during execution of the topic flow; provide a second user utterance to the NLU service; receive, from the NLU service, a second scored set of intents and entities derived from the second user utterance; select a second topic flow in response to determining that a second intent from the second scored set of intents and entities is associated with the second topic flow; apply entities from the scored set of intents and entities, or the second scored set of intents and entities, or a combination thereof, to data i

Assignees

• Servicenow Inc

Inventors

• Asba Nabil Abu
• Griffin Mark David
• Jain Anuj

Classifications

• G06F40/30 Primary

  Semantic analysis · CPC title

• H04L51/02

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

• G06F40/295

  Named entity recognition · CPC title

• G10L15/1822

  Parsing for meaning understanding · CPC title

• G10L15/22

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title