Invention support system and invention support method

Abstract

To provide an invention support system which enables efficient achievement of superior inventions without requiring a lot of human resources.SOLUTION: An invention support system 100 is provided, comprising a user interface configured to transmit a text document to an artificial intelligence service provision site that responds in an interactive manner, requesting the site to apply problem solving theory, solve a problem, and establish an invention.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an invention support system and an invention support method. [Background technology]

[0002] Previously, invention support systems have been proposed that provide support for the efficient creation of outstanding inventions. Since invention requires "serendipity (the ability to not overlook unexpected coincidences)," an invention support system that intentionally aims to realize this is described in Patent Document 1. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-139283 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional technology described in Patent Document 1 is a system that is premised on the existence of multiple members, and requires human resources, which ultimately results in high costs for inventing the system.

[0005] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an invention support system and an invention support method for efficiently obtaining excellent inventions without requiring a large amount of human resources. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, an invention support system according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: The system is provided with a user interface for transmitting a text document to an artificial intelligence service providing site that responds in a dialogue format, requesting that the site apply problem-solving theory, solve the problem, and invent something. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the invention support system according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently obtain excellent inventions without requiring a large amount of human resources.

[0008] Other objects, configurations and effects will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention described below. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a usage mode of an invention support system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is an example of a user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 2 is an example of a user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 9 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a computer 900. [Diagram 5] 13 is an example of a user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 13 is an example of a user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the scope necessary for the explanation to achieve the object of the present invention will be shown in a schematic manner, and the scope necessary for the explanation of the relevant part of the present invention will be mainly explained, and the parts that are omitted from the explanation will be based on the publicly known technology.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a usage mode of an invention support system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A currently widely used general-purpose computer 900 (described later) can be used as the invention support system 100. The invention support system 100 according to the present invention can be configured by being installed as an application program in such a computer 900. It is assumed that the invention support system 100 is connected to, for example, an artificial intelligence service providing site A200, an artificial intelligence service providing site B300, and an artificial intelligence service providing site C400 so as to be able to perform data communication via a communication means such as the Internet.

[0012] The artificial intelligence service providing site uses artificial intelligence to respond to inquiries from the invention support system 100, which is a user, and provides a response to the inquiry to the invention support system 100. In this embodiment, an example will be described based on a case where three artificial intelligence service providing sites, A, B, and C, are set up on the Internet. Each artificial intelligence service providing site is assumed to respond to inquiries from users in a dialogue format.

[0013] Since each of the AI ​​service providing sites A, B, and C has different learning data, learning programs, etc., they respond to the user in a conversational format based on different algorithms. The invention support system 100 according to the present invention is expected to provide inventions and hints regarding inventions to users by cooperating with the AI ​​service providing site A200, the AI ​​service providing site B300, and the AI ​​service providing site C400.

[0014] Next, a form in which a user utilizes the invention support system 100 according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of a user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Such an example of a user interface screen is provided to a user by being provided to a display device 918 in a computer 900. Furthermore, inputting text, pressing a button, and moving a cursor in the user interface screen can be realized by an input device 916 such as a keyboard or a mouse. The invention support system 100 according to the present invention has a function of realizing the above-mentioned user interface screen by a program or the like.

[0015] The user interface screen of the invention support system 100 in Fig. 2 shows, for example, a situation in which communication with the artificial intelligence service providing site A200 has been established and the artificial intelligence service providing site A200 is responding to the user in a dialogue format. In the figure, the text in the box marked "User" is an inquiry made by the user to the artificial intelligence service providing site A200, and the text in the box marked "Site A" shows the response sent from the artificial intelligence service providing site A200.

[0016] The invention support system 100 according to the present invention is configured to transmit a text document requesting the application of problem-solving theories such as TRIZ, solving problems, and inventing to the artificial intelligence service providing site A200, as shown in (1) of FIG. 2, "From now on, you are an expert in aeronautical engineering. Apply TRIZ, solve problems, and invent." Here, TRIZ stands for Theoria Resolution Inventions (Russian). It is also an abbreviation for Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, and is a methodology that defines inventive principles for solving problems. In this specification, TRIZ is considered to be one of the various problem-solving theories that exist.

[0017] TRIZ has 40 inventive principles that provide solutions to problems. By instructing the AI ​​service provider A200 to invent based on these inventive principles, the possibility of finding principles that can be applied to the problem and deriving new solutions is increased.

[0018] The TRIZ Inventive Principles provide various support tools that can be used to solve problems, such as trend forecasting, forced relationship diagrams, strategies for system adaptation, and mass-space-time analysis. Using these tools, more ideas can be generated.

[0019] For example, in TRIZ, there is the use of antitrend analysis, which is another TRIZ method for finding solutions to problems. A trend is a tendency of problems to appear as technology advances, and an antitrend is a way to find ideas to reverse this tendency.

[0020] The text in (1) of Figure 2, "From now on, you are an aeronautical engineering expert. Apply TRIZ, solve problems, and invent," commands the AI ​​service providing site A200 to behave as if it were an aeronautical engineering expert. In this way, the invention support system 100 according to the present invention includes a text document that clarifies the role of the AI ​​service providing site, and such a text document can increase the possibility of deriving a good invention.

[0021] As shown in the text of (2) in the figure, “An airplane’s wings can increase lift by increasing the angle of attack. However, if the lift is increased too much, a stall will occur and lift will decrease rapidly. Please invent a way to solve this problem and suppress the stall until the angle of attack is larger than usual.”, the user can instruct the AI ​​service provider site A200, which acts as an aeronautical engineering expert, to create an invention based on TRIZ.

[0022] Fig. 3 is another example of the user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the text of (3) in Fig. 3, "Providing additional control surfaces on the wing is costly, so please make a different proposal.", if the proposal by the artificial intelligence service providing site A200 seems to be heading in an undesirable direction, the invention support system 100 can transmit a text document to the artificial intelligence service providing site A200 to instruct the site to correct its trajectory. By inputting such a trajectory correction to the artificial intelligence service providing site A200, it becomes possible to converge the proposal to the direction desired by the user.

[0023] As mentioned above, TRIZ has 40 inventive principles that provide solutions to problems. When instructing the AI ​​service providing site A200 to create an invention, it is also a preferred embodiment to instruct it to respond which of these 40 inventive principles it has applied. When obtaining the process of invention creation as a response from the AI ​​service providing site A200, it is a further preferred embodiment to visualize the obtained text of the invention creation process together with the aforementioned inventive principles in a chart or the like. By referring to such a chart, it is expected that users (humans) can be encouraged to come up with ideas similar to those in the invention process by the AI ​​service providing site A200.

[0024] In this embodiment, the AI ​​service provider site A200 is configured to obtain an answer based on text instructions such as "From now on, you are an expert in aeronautical engineering. Apply TRIZ, solve the problem, and invent." However, it is also preferable to obtain an answer from an on-premise AI system in addition to the answer from the AI ​​service provider site A200. To achieve such a configuration, for example, the on-premise AI system is made to learn text information such as textbooks, guidebooks, and academic papers related to "aeronautical engineering", related video information, etc., and further, it is made to learn academic information such as mechanical engineering, fluid dynamics, production engineering, processing engineering, and the earth's atmosphere and weather that are closely related to "aeronautical engineering". The answer obtained from the on-premise AI system can be positioned as a supplement to the answer from the AI ​​service provider site A200.

[0025] According to the invention support system and invention support method described above, it is possible to efficiently obtain excellent inventions without requiring a large amount of human resources.

[0026] (Hardware configuration) 4 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a computer 900. Each of the devices 2 to 6 of the software operation support system 1 is configured by a general-purpose or dedicated computer 900.

[0027] 4, the computer 900 includes, as its main components, a bus 910, a processor 912, a memory 914, an input device 916, an output device 917, a display device 918, a storage device 920, a communication I / F (interface) unit 922, an external device I / F unit 924, an I / O (input / output) device I / F unit 926, and a media input / output unit 928. Note that the above components may be omitted as appropriate depending on the application of the computer 900.

[0028] The processor 912 is composed of one or more arithmetic processing devices (such as a central processing unit (CPU), a micro-processing unit (MPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), or a graphics processing unit (GPU)) and operates as a control unit that controls the entire computer 900. The memory 914 stores various data and programs 930, and is composed of, for example, a volatile memory (DRAM, SRAM, etc.) that functions as a main memory, a non-volatile memory (ROM), a flash memory, etc.

[0029] The input device 916 is composed of, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a numeric keypad, an electronic pen, etc., and functions as an input unit. The output device 917 is composed of, for example, a sound (audio) output device, a vibration device, etc., and functions as an output unit. The display device 918 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, electronic paper, a projector, etc., and functions as an output unit. The input device 916 and the display device 918 may be integrally configured, such as a touch panel display. The storage device 920 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), etc., and functions as a storage unit. The storage device 920 stores various data necessary for the execution of the operating system and the program 930.

[0030] The communication I / F unit 922 is connected to a network 940 (which may be the same as the network 7 in FIG. 1) such as the Internet or an intranet by wired or wireless connection, and functions as a communication unit that transmits and receives data to and from other computers in accordance with a predetermined communication standard. The external device I / F unit 924 is connected to an external device 950 such as a camera, printer, scanner, reader / writer by wired or wireless connection, and transmits and receives data to and from the external device 950 in accordance with a predetermined communication standard. The I / O device I / F unit 926 functions as a communication unit that transmits and receives various signals and data, such as detection signals from sensors and control signals to actuators, between the I / O device 960 and the I / O device I / F unit 926. The media input / output unit 928 is composed of, for example, drive devices such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) drive and a CD (Compact Disc) drive, a memory card slot, and a USB connector, and reads and writes data from and to media (non-transient storage media) 970 such as a DVD, CD, memory card, and USB memory.

[0031] In the computer 900 having the above configuration, the processor 912 calls up the program 930 stored in the storage device 920 into the memory 914, executes the program, and controls each unit of the computer 900 via the bus 910. The program 930 may be stored in the memory 914 instead of the storage device 920. The program 930 may be recorded in the medium 970 in an installable file format or an executable file format, and provided to the computer 900 via the media input / output unit 928. The program 930 may be provided to the computer 900 by downloading the program 930 via the communication I / F unit 922 over the network 940. In addition, the computer 900 may realize various functions realized by the processor 912 executing the program 930, for example, with hardware such as an FPGA or an ASIC.

[0032] The computer 900 is, for example, a stationary computer or a portable computer, and is an electronic device of any form. The computer 900 may be a client computer, a server computer, or a cloud computer. The computer 900 may also be applied to devices other than the devices 2 to 6. In addition, when the computer 900 is a portable computer, it is preferable that the computer 900 has a function of acquiring location information of its own location and is configured to provide the location information for various data processing.

[0033] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The invention support system 100 according to the first embodiment is configured to create an invention by having a user and an artificial intelligence service providing site interact with each other. In contrast, the invention support system 100 according to the second embodiment is configured to create an invention by having artificial intelligence service providing sites interact with each other. The other configurations are the same as those of the previous embodiment. The invention support system 100 according to the second embodiment will be described below, focusing mainly on the user interface of the invention support system 100.

[0034] Fig. 5 is an example of a user interface screen of the invention support system 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 5, under "Please select the artificial intelligence service providing site you want to interact with", buttons for "artificial intelligence service providing site A", "artificial intelligence service providing site B", and "artificial intelligence service providing site C" are arranged, and the user can select two or more artificial intelligence service providing sites from among the multiple artificial intelligence service providing sites by selecting any button with the cursor.

[0035] For example, when the user selects the artificial intelligence service providing site A200 and the artificial intelligence service providing site B300, the user proceeds to a user interface screen as shown in Fig. 6. As shown in the text of (4) in Fig. 6 "Now, please make an invention through dialogue with the artificial intelligence service providing site B. When doing so, please apply TRIZ to solve the problem", the invention support system 100 according to the second embodiment transmits a text document to the artificial intelligence service providing site A200 requesting that the user apply a problem-solving theory such as TRIZ to solve the problem and make an invention while dialogue with another artificial intelligence service providing site (site B in this example).

[0036] The user can command the AI ​​service provider site A200 to create an invention based on TRIZ, as shown in the text in (2) of the figure: "By increasing the angle of attack of an airplane wing, the lift can be increased. However, if the lift is increased too much, a stall occurs and the lift drops sharply. Please invent a way to solve this problem and suppress the stall until the angle of attack is larger than usual." This will be the catalyst for the AI ​​service provider site A200 and AI service provider site B300 to create an invention through dialogue with each other.

[0037] As the dialogue between the artificial intelligence service providing sites progresses, the discussion may proceed in a direction that the user does not intend. Therefore, the invention support system 100 according to the present invention is provided with a button for forcibly stopping the dialogue between the artificial intelligence service providing sites on the user interface screen shown in FIG. 6. Furthermore, by pressing such a button, the user can stop the dialogue and then send a text document instructing a course correction to each artificial intelligence service providing site, as shown in the text "Please consider a method of suppressing the stall from a perspective other than a wind tunnel" in (6) in the figure.

[0038] According to the invention support system of the second embodiment, it is possible to efficiently obtain excellent inventions without requiring a large amount of human resources. Furthermore, it is expected that the degree of completion of the proposed inventions will be improved through dialogue between multiple AI service providing sites.

[0039] In the user interface in the embodiment described above, a user inputs text into a text box and issues a command to the AI ​​service providing site based on the text, but the user interface that can be used in the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, when a user issues a command to the AI ​​service providing site, a user interface that employs a method such as prompt engineering can also be used.

[0040] It is possible to combine the embodiments, and to modify or omit each embodiment as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 100…Invention support system 200...AI service provider site A, 200...AI service provider site B, 300...AI service provider site C 900…Computer

Claims

1. An invention support system having a user interface that transmits a text document to an artificial intelligence service provider site that responds in a dialogue format, requesting that the site apply problem-solving theory, solve a problem, and create an invention.

2. The invention support system according to claim 1 , wherein the user interface transmits a text document clarifying the role of the artificial intelligence service providing site.

3. 2. The invention support system according to claim 1, wherein the user interface transmits a text document instructing a course correction.

4. 2. The invention support system according to claim 1, wherein the problem solving theory is TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving).

5. 5. The invention support system according to claim 4, wherein the user interface transmits a text document prompting the user to answer which of the TRIZ invention principles has been applied.

6. The invention support system according to claim 1, further comprising an artificial intelligence system on-premise that complements the artificial intelligence service providing site.

7. An invention support system having a user interface that selects two or more artificial intelligence service providing sites from among a plurality of artificial intelligence service providing sites that respond in a conversational format based on different algorithms, and transmits a text document to one of the artificial intelligence service providing sites requesting that it apply a problem-solving theory, solve the problem, and create an invention.

8. 8. The invention support system according to claim 7, wherein the user interface transmits a text document prompting a dialogue between a plurality of artificial intelligence service providing sites.

9. The invention support system according to claim 7 , wherein the user interface includes a button for stopping interaction between artificial intelligence service providing sites.

10. 8. The invention support system according to claim 7, wherein the user interface transmits a text document instructing a course correction.

11. 8. The invention support system according to claim 7, wherein the problem solving theory is TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving).

12. 12. The invention support system according to claim 11, wherein the user interface transmits a text document prompting the user to answer which of the TRIZ invention principles has been applied.

13. The invention support system according to claim 7, further comprising an artificial intelligence system on-premise that complements the artificial intelligence service providing site.

14. An invention support method comprising the step of transmitting a text document to an artificial intelligence service providing site that responds in a dialogue format, requesting the site to apply a problem-solving theory, solve a problem, and create an invention.

15. An invention support method which executes a step of selecting two or more artificial intelligence service providing sites from among a plurality of artificial intelligence service providing sites which respond in a conversational format based on different algorithms, and sending a text document to one of the artificial intelligence service providing sites requesting that it apply a problem-solving theory, solve the problem, and create an invention.

Images