Inquiry proposal device, inquiry proposal method, and computer program

Abstract

To assist enhancement of an interview between a consulter and an adviser such that helpful information is provided for the consulter by the interview.SOLUTION: An acquisition unit of an inquiry proposal device acquires attribute information representing an attribute of a consulter. An extraction unit extracts inquiry information from a storage unit that stores inquiry information source data by using the acquired attribute information about the consulter and attribute information previously provided for an adviser who serves the consulter. The inquiry information source data is data in which a plurality of pieces of inquiry information representing a content of an inquiry that assists an interview between the consulter and the adviser are associated with one of the attribute of the consulter and an attribute of the adviser or a combination of the attribute of the consulter and the attribute of the adviser. An output unit outputs the extracted inquiry information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a question proposing device, a question proposing method, and a computer program for a consultation between a client and an advisor. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to facilitate a smooth transition from school to society and work, career education is being promoted in schools such as high schools before students enter the workforce. This has led to high school students thinking about their future careers, but they can sometimes get stuck due to a lack of information. In light of this, attempts are being made to provide career counseling services where high school students can consult with working adults about their careers.

[0003] In addition, Patent Document 1 (JP 2021-33683 A) describes a method for matching advisors who can provide advice to users. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-33683 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One form of consultation service is one in which the client and the advisor (counselor) meet face-to-face for consultation. In such consultation services, it has sometimes been difficult for both the client and the advisor to determine what information would be useful to the client, resulting in the unfortunate outcome that the client was not provided with any useful information during the consultation.

[0006] The present disclosure has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, a main objective of the present disclosure is to provide a technology that supports enriching interviews between a client and an advisor so that useful information can be provided to the client through the interviews. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the question proposing device according to the present disclosure is to: an acquisition unit that acquires attribute information representing attributes of a client; an extraction unit that extracts question information from a storage unit that stores a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor, the question information being associated with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, and that uses the acquired attribute information of the seeker and pre-assigned attribute information of the advisor who will be assisting the seeker; an output unit that outputs the extracted question information; Equipped with.

[0008] Furthermore, one aspect of the question suggestion method according to the present disclosure is to By computer, Acquire attribute information that represents the attributes of the person seeking advice, extracting question information from a storage unit in which a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor is stored as question information source data in association with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes; and The extracted question information is output.

[0009] Furthermore, one aspect of the computer program according to the present disclosure is A process of acquiring attribute information representing attributes of the client; A process of extracting question information from a storage unit in which a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor is stored as question information source data in association with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, using the seeker's attribute information acquired and the advisor's attribute information provided in advance; A process to output the extracted question information. to be executed by the computer. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to support enriching interviews between a client and an advisor so that useful information is provided to the client through the interviews. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a consultation service providing system to which a question proposing device is applied. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the configuration of a question proposing device. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen that introduces an advisor's profile. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of question information source data. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen on a display device that displays proposed question information. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the question proposing device. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example configuration of a question proposing device. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example configuration of the question proposing device. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example configuration of the question proposing device. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example configuration of the question proposing device. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example configuration of the question proposing device. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of another embodiment of a question proposing device. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of another embodiment of the question proposing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] First Embodiment The question proposing device of the first embodiment according to the present disclosure is, for example, a computer device applied to the following consultation service providing system. The consultation service providing system here is, for example, a system as shown in FIG. 1 in which a client 2 can consult with an advisor 8. The advisor 8 is a counselor who listens to the client 2, gives advice to the client 2, and talks about his or her own experiences. For example, the consultation service providing system has multiple advisors 8 registered as counselors, and one of the registered advisors 8 selected by the client 2 as a consultation partner will respond to the client 2.

[0014] The example in Figure 1 shows a situation in which a client 2 is having an online consultation with an advisor 8. Online consultation is a format in which terminal devices 3 and 9 operated by the client 2 and the advisor 8, respectively, are connected via an information and communications network (e.g., the Internet), and the client 2 and the advisor 8 use the terminal devices 3 and 9 to conduct a face-to-face consultation.

[0015] The consultation service providing system to which the question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment is applied is not limited in the consultation content it handles, but in the explanation of the first embodiment, the client 2 is a high school student, the consultation content is career advice with an eye to future careers, and the advisor 8 is a working person.

[0016] The consultation service providing system also includes basic service provision functions for realizing the provision of consultation services. The basic service provision functions include, for example, a matching function that matches the client 2 with an advisor 8 by having the client 2 select an advisor 8 to be employed as a consultation partner, and an interview arrangement function that arranges an interview date for a consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 once a match has been made. These basic service provision functions may be realized by the processing of the same computer device as the question proposing device 1, or may be realized by the processing of a computer device (not shown) separate from the question proposing device 1. There are various processing methods for realizing functions such as the matching function and the interview arrangement function included in the basic service provision functions, and since these methods are not limited here, a description thereof will be omitted.

[0017] The question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment is a computer device that has a function of proposing questions to one or both of the client and the advisor during the interview in order to help enrich the interview between the client and the advisor. Enriching the interview here means that the advisor can provide the client with information that is useful to the client, thereby ensuring that the interview leaves the client feeling satisfied and convinced.

[0018] 2, the question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment is communicatively connected to terminal devices 3 and 9. The terminal device 3 is a terminal device (hereinafter also referred to as a client terminal) operated by a client 2. The terminal device 9 is a terminal device (hereinafter also referred to as an advisor terminal) operated by an advisor 8.

[0019] The client terminal 3 is an information device and has a communication function, a display control function, and a sound collection function. The communication function is a function for communicating information with other devices with communication functions via an information and communication network such as the Internet, and the client terminal 3 is able to communicate with the question proposing device 1 and the advisor terminal 9 via this communication function. The display control function is a function for displaying information on the display device 4 by controlling the display operation of the display device 4. The sound collection function is a so-called microphone function, and is a function for converting collected sound into an electrical signal (sound information) and outputting it. The client terminal 3 is not limited to any particular type of information device as long as it has the above-mentioned communication function, display control function, and sound collection function, but specific examples include a smartphone, a tablet, and a personal computer (PC). If the client terminal 3 is a smartphone or a tablet, the display device 4 is integrated with the client terminal 3, but if the client terminal 3 is a PC, the display device 4 may be external.

[0020] In the first embodiment, the client terminal 3 may exchange information with the question proposing device 1 and cooperate with the question proposing device 1. Methods for the client terminal 3 to cooperate with the question proposing device 1 include, for example, using an application program (app) that provides the client terminal 3 with the function of coordinating with the question proposing device 1, or using a browser (software for browsing information on the Internet). Whether the cooperation between the client terminal 3 and the question proposing device 1 is carried out by an app or a browser is set appropriately by the designer of the consultation service providing system, and is not limited here.

[0021] As with the client terminal 3, the type of advisor terminal 9 is not limited as long as it is an information device that has a communication function, a display control function for the display device 7, and a sound collection function. The advisor terminal 9 may also be linked to the question proposing device 1. As with the client terminal 3, whether the link between the advisor terminal 9 and the question proposing device 1 is executed by an app or a browser is set appropriately by the designer of the consultation service providing system, and is not limited here.

[0022] The question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment is also connected to a database 5, which is a storage device. In the first embodiment, the database 5 stores profile information of multiple advisors 8 (hereinafter also referred to as registered advisors) who have already registered in the consultation service providing system. The profile information of the advisor 8 here is self-introduction information registered by the advisor 8 in the consultation service providing system, and includes, for example, a self-introduction comment and attribute information. The attribute information of the advisor 8 is information that represents the personality of the advisor 8, and includes, for example, age, occupation, history (including work history and educational background), qualifications, skills, hobbies, etc. The type of information about the advisor 8 included in the attribute information is determined by, for example, a designer of the consultation service providing system, and is not limited to the above-mentioned examples. Furthermore, the profile information of the advisor 8 stored in the database 5 is associated with advisor identification information that identifies the corresponding advisor 8. Furthermore, there are various methods for acquiring profile information from the advisor 8 and storing (registering) it in the database 5, and since the methods are not limited here, a description thereof will be omitted.

[0023] The profile information of advisor 8 can be transmitted from database 5 to client terminal 3 or a terminal device operated by a system operator of the consultation service providing system (not shown, but hereinafter also referred to as operator terminal) by the question proposing device 1 or another computer device (not shown) constituting the consultation service providing system. The transmitted profile information can be viewed by client 2 or the system operator by, for example, being displayed on the display screen of the display device of the operator terminal of client terminal 3 as shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the profile information of advisor 8 stored in database 5 is managed by the consultation service providing system.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2, the question proposing device 1 includes a computing device 10 and a storage device 20. The storage device 20 includes a storage medium for storing data and a computer program (hereinafter also referred to as a program) 21. There are multiple types of storage devices, such as magnetic disk drives and semiconductor memory devices. Furthermore, there are many types of semiconductor memory devices, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory). A computer device may include multiple types of storage devices depending on their intended use, but these storage devices will be collectively referred to as the storage device 20 without distinction. Furthermore, the number and types of storage devices included in the question proposing device 1 are not limited, and their description will be omitted. Furthermore, as described above, the question proposing device 1 is connected to a database 5. As a result, the question proposing device 1 may write information to or read information from the database 5 instead of using the storage device 20. However, to avoid complication, such a description may be omitted here.

[0025] The arithmetic device 10 is configured with a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The arithmetic device 10 can have functions based on a program 21 by reading and executing the program 21 stored in a storage device 20. Here, the arithmetic device 10 has an acquisition unit 11, an extraction unit 12, and an output unit 13 as functional units that suggest the content of questions to be asked during a consultation between a client 2 and an advisor 8.

[0026] The acquisition unit 11 acquires attribute information of the client 2, for example, from the client terminal 3. The attribute information of the client 2 acquired by the acquisition unit 11 is information that represents the client 2, and the type of information included in the attribute information is predetermined by the designer of the consultation service providing system or the like and is not limited, but examples include the following types of information: For example, the attribute information of the client 2 may include information such as age, area of ​​residence, and department of high school (e.g., general education, technical department), as well as information related to the content of career counseling, such as whether or not the client wishes to go to university, desired university, desired occupation, and whether or not the client is interested in overseas.

[0027] Furthermore, the method by which the acquisition unit 11 acquires the attribute information of the client 2 from the client terminal 3 is not limited, but the following acquisition method is an example. For example, the acquisition unit 11 transmits an input form for inputting the attribute information of the client 2 to the client terminal 3, which is the source from which the information is acquired. Thereafter, the acquisition unit 11 receives the input form on which the attribute information has been filled out by the client 2, thereby acquiring the attribute information of the client 2. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 11 may cooperate with the client terminal 3, which is the source from which the information is acquired, and acquire the attribute information of the client 2 through an interaction with the client 2.

[0028] An example of the timing at which the acquiring unit 11 acquires the attribute information of the client 2 is when the client 2 requests the consultation service providing system to provide consultation services. The acquiring unit 11 stores the acquired attribute information of the client 2, for example, in the storage device 20. The attribute information of the client 2 stored in the storage device 20 is associated with client identification information that identifies the client 2. Note that in the consultation service providing system, a computer device equipped with a matching function for matching the client 2 with an advisor 8 as described above may be provided separately from the question proposing device 1. In such a case, the attribute information of the client 2 may be acquired by a computer device other than the question proposing device 1. In this case, the acquiring unit 11 may acquire the attribute information of the client 2 acquired by the computer device equipped with the matching function from the computer device.

[0029] In the question proposing device 1, the storage device 20 stores the following question information source data. The question information source data includes multiple pieces of question information representing the content of questions to support a consultation between a client and an advisor. Each piece of question information is associated with one of the client's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the client's attributes and the advisor's attributes. FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the question information source data in the form of a table. The question information source data is determined, for example, by the system operator of the consultation service providing system. Note that FIG. 4 shows an example of the content of questions proposed to the client 2 (i.e., the content that the client 2 asks the advisor 8) as question information in the question information source data, but the question information source data also includes question information proposed to the advisor 8. Note that the question information source data shown in FIG. 4 is only an example, and the question information source data is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 4. Appropriate content is set taking into consideration the people expected to be the client and advisor and the content of the consultation. In the first embodiment, the storage device 20 functions as a storage unit that stores the question information source data.

[0030] The extraction unit 12 extracts question information from the question information source data stored in the storage device 20, using the attribute information of the client 2 acquired by the acquisition unit 11 and the attribute information of the advisor 8 who will be assisting the client 2.

[0031] In the first embodiment, the attribute information of the seeker 2 and the attribute information of the advisor 8 used by the extraction unit 12 when extracting question information from the question information source data is the attribute information of the seeker 2 and the advisor 8 who have been matched for a consultation. Information representing the seeker 2 and the advisor 8 who have been matched for a consultation is provided from a function unit (matching function unit) that realizes the matching function of the computer device in the consultation service providing system, as described above. The extraction unit 12 uses the information of the seeker 2 provided from the matching function unit to read the attribute information of the seeker 2 from the storage device 20. As described above, the storage device 20 stores the attribute information of the seeker 2 acquired by the acquisition unit 11. Furthermore, the extraction unit 12 uses the information of the advisor 8 provided from the matching function unit, as described above, to read the attribute information of the advisor 8 from the database 5.

[0032] The extraction unit 12 extracts question information associated with the attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8 read from the storage device 20 or the database 5 from the question information source data. An example of the timing at which the extraction unit 12 extracts question information is the timing at which a consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 starts. Information on the date and time of the consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 is provided from a functional unit (interview coordination functional unit) that realizes the consultation coordination function of the computer device as described above in the consultation service providing system.

[0033] The output unit 13 outputs the question information extracted by the extraction unit 12. For example, when the extraction unit 12 extracts the question information at the start of the consultation, the timing of outputting the question information may be triggered by the extraction of the question information. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 , the question information source data associates the question information with information about the proposed destination. In other words, the question information in the question information source data is associated with information that distinguishes between question information for the client and question information for the advisor. The output unit 13 references information about the proposed destination associated with the extracted question information, sets the proposed destination as the output destination, and outputs the extracted question information (question information to be output). In other words, when the proposed destination is the client, the output unit 13 outputs the question information to the client terminal 3 of the client 2 who will be interviewed. When the proposed destination is the advisor 8, the output unit 13 outputs the question information to the advisor terminal 9 of the advisor 8 who will be interviewed.

[0034] There may be cases where multiple pieces of question information are extracted for the client 2 or the advisor 8. In such cases, the output unit 13 may output all of the extracted pieces of question information to the client 2 or the advisor 8, or may output a part of the question information selected according to a predetermined selection rule to the client 2 or the advisor 8, which is the output destination.

[0035] The client terminal 3 and the advisor terminal 9 that receive the question information output by the output unit 13 use the received question information to display, for example, the content of the question proposed by the question proposing device 1 on the display screen of the display device 4, 7. Figure 5 shows an example of the display screen of the display device 4 as a result of the display control operation of the client terminal 3 during an online consultation.

[0036] The question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment is configured as described above. Next, an example of the operation of the question proposing device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the question proposing device 1. It can also be said that Fig. 6 shows an example of a method for proposing questions using the question proposing device 1.

[0037] For example, the acquisition unit 11 acquires attribute information of the client 2 from the client terminal 3 as described above (step 101 in FIG. 6). Thereafter, for example, when the extraction unit 12 detects that a meeting between the matched client 2 and the advisor 8 is about to begin (step 102), it reads attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8, who will be meeting, from the storage device 20 or the database 5. The extraction unit 12 then extracts question information from the question information source data stored in the storage device 20 using the attribute information of the client 2 and the attribute information of the advisor 8 (step 103). Thereafter, the output unit 13 outputs the extracted question information to the client terminal 3 or the advisor terminal 9, which is the output destination of the question information (step 104). As a result, the client terminal 3 or the advisor terminal 9, which has received the question information, performs a display control operation to display the content of the question proposed by the question proposing device 1 on the display screen of the display device 4, 7, and presents it to the client 2 or the advisor 8.

[0038] As described above, the question proposing device 1 is configured to extract question information corresponding to attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8 from question information source data including multiple pieces of question information representing the content of questions to support a consultation between the client and the advisor, and output the extracted question information to the client terminal 3 and the advisor terminal 9. The question information included in the question information source data represents the content of questions to support a consultation between the client and the advisor. Such question information is output from the question proposing device 1 to the client terminal 3 and the advisor terminal 9. The client terminal 3 presents (proposes) the content of the questions to the client 2, and the client 2 asks the advisor 8, thereby increasing the probability that the client 2 will obtain (draw) information that is useful to the client 2 from the advisor 8. Furthermore, the advisor terminal 9 presents (proposes) the content of the questions to the advisor 8, and the advisor 8 asks the client 2, thereby increasing the probability that the advisor 8 will obtain (draw) information that is useful to the client 2 from the client 2. Then, the advisor 8 provides the consultee 2 with information that the advisor 8 believes will be useful to the consultee 2. As described above, it is expected that the advisor 8 will be able to provide the consultee 2 with information that is useful to the consultee 2, making the interview meaningful for the consultee 2. In other words, the question proposing device 1 can enrich the interview between the consultee 2 and the advisor 8 so that useful information is provided to the consultee 2 during the interview.

[0039] Second Embodiment A second embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described below. In the description of the second embodiment, components having the same names as those in the description of the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description of the common parts will be omitted.

[0040] The question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment includes a generation unit 14 shown in FIG. 7 , instead of the extraction unit 12 included in the question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment. The generation unit 14 generates question information using attribute information of the client 2 and attribute information of the advisor 8 serving the client 2. The question information generated by the generation unit 14, like the question information described in the first embodiment, is information representing the content of a question that will support a consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8. One example of a method for generating question information using the attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8 is a method using AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology. When AI technology is used, the generation unit 14 uses the following question information generation model generated by machine learning. Information input to the question information generation model (input information) is attribute information of the client 2 and attribute information of the advisor 8. Information output by the question information generation model in response to such input information (output information) is question information (i.e., information representing the content of a question that will support a consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8). Such a question information generation model is generated by learning the following training data (teacher data). The training data is data according to the type of AI technology used to generate the model, and one example is data in which the following question information is associated with attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8. The question information included in the training data is, for example, information representing the content of a question that the client has determined to be effective for the advisor to ask during a meeting between the client and the advisor. A plurality of data (training data) with different combinations of such question information, attribute information of the client 2, and attribute information of the advisor 8 is learned to generate a question information generation model. Note that, in this case, the question information generation model is capable of outputting question information for the client and question information for the advisor, and the output information is associated with information that distinguishes between the question information for the client and the question information for the advisor (for example, information about the proposal recipient). Here, the consultation content is set to be career advice, but if multiple types of consultation content are expected, information indicating the type of consultation content is used for generating (learning) the question information generation model and for input information for the question information generation model.

[0041] Similar to the extraction unit 12 in the first embodiment, the generation unit 14 generates question information, for example, using a question information generation model, at the timing when it is detected that a meeting between the client 2 and the advisor 8 is about to begin.

[0042] The output unit 13 outputs the question information generated by the generation unit 14 at a timing triggered by the generation unit 14, in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

[0043] The configuration of the question proposing device 1 in the second embodiment other than the above-mentioned configuration is the same as the configuration of the question proposing device 1 in the first embodiment.

[0044] Like the question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment, the question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment has a configuration for proposing questions that can provide the client 2 with information that is useful to the client 2 during a meeting between the client 2 and the advisor 8. This allows the question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment to achieve the same effects as the question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment. In other words, the question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment can also enhance the meeting between the client 2 and the advisor 8 so that useful information is provided to the client 2 during the meeting.

[0045] The question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment also includes a generator 14. The generator 14 generates question information using, for example, AI technology. As a result, the question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment can propose to the client 2 and the advisor 8 question content that better matches the attributes of the client 2 and the advisor 8, compared to when question information representing the content of a standard question is used.

[0046] <Third embodiment> A third embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described below. In the description of the third embodiment, components having the same names as those in the descriptions of the first and second embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description of the common parts will be omitted.

[0047] The question proposing device 1 of the third embodiment includes a receiving unit 15 and a speech recognition unit 16 shown in FIG. 8 in addition to the configuration of the question proposing device 1 of the second embodiment.

[0048] The receiving unit 15 receives conversation information representing the content of the conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 during the online consultation interview. In the third embodiment, the receiving unit 15 receives, as the conversation information, voice information of the client 2 and the advisor 8 during the interview. The method by which the receiving unit 15 receives (acquires) the voice information of the client 2 and the advisor 8 is not limited, but an example is a method in which the receiving unit 15 cooperates with the interview execution function of the computer device in the consultation service providing system as described above.

[0049] The speech recognition unit 16 converts the speech information between the client 2 and the advisor 8 received by the receiving unit 15 into text using speech recognition technology, thereby generating information on the conversation content.

[0050] The generation unit 14 generates question information using the following question information generation model. In the third embodiment, the question information generation model is a model generated by learning, using AI technology, learning data including conversation information including questions during a consultation between the client and the advisor, attribute information of the client 2, and attribute information of the advisor 8. Input information to this question information generation model is information on the content of the conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 that has been speech-recognized, and attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8. The output information output by the question information generation model in response to such input information is question information (i.e., information representing the content of a question that supports the consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8).

[0051] In the third embodiment, the generation unit 14 generates question information using information on the conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 that has been speech-recognized, attribute information on the client 2, attribute information on the advisor 8, and a question information generation model. Here, as in the second embodiment, the question information output from the question information generation model is associated with information on the proposed destination.

[0052] The timing at which the generation unit 14 generates question information may be set to any suitable timing during the interview between the client 2 and the advisor 8, and is not limited to the following, but multiple timings may be set, for example: One example of the timing at which question information is generated is when a time has passed since the start of the interview when the introductory part of the conversation is expected to end (for example, five minutes after the start). Another example of the timing is when the conversation stops and the silence continues for a predetermined period of time or longer.

[0053] The output unit 13 outputs the question information generated by the generation unit 14 to the client terminal 3 of the client 2 and the advisor terminal 9 of the advisor 8 at a timing triggered by the generation of the question information by the generation unit 14.

[0054] The configuration of the question proposing device 1 in the third embodiment other than the above-mentioned configuration is the same as the configuration of the question proposing device 1 in the second embodiment.

[0055] The question proposing device 1 of the third embodiment is configured to generate proposed question information using the content of the conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 in addition to the attribute information of the client 2 and the advisor 8. This allows the question proposing device 1 of the third embodiment to further enhance the interview between the client 2 and the advisor 8 so that useful information can be provided to the client 2 during the interview.

[0056] <Other embodiments> The present disclosure is not limited to the first to third embodiments and may be embodied in various ways. For example, in the first to third embodiments, the consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 is an online consultation. However, the question proposing device according to the present disclosure can also be applied to a consultation service providing system in which the client and the advisor meet face-to-face. In this case, for example, the question proposing device 1 is communicably connected to a display device 31 as shown in FIG. 9 . The display device 31 is a display device for the client and is installed so as to provide information to the client 2 during a face-to-face consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8. The display device 91 is a display device for the advisor and is installed so as to provide information to the advisor 8 during a face-to-face consultation between the client 2 and the advisor 8.

[0057] The question proposing device 1 outputs question information for the client to the display device 31, and presents the question information to the client 2 via the display device 31. The question proposing device 1 also outputs question information for the advisor to the display device 91, and presents the question information to the advisor 8 via the display device 91. That is, in the first to third embodiments, the output unit 13 outputs the question information to the client terminal 3 and the advisor terminal 9. Alternatively, in the case of a face-to-face consultation, the output unit 13 also performs display control to output and display the question information on the client's display device 31 and the advisor's display device 91.

[0058] In the third embodiment, in the case of a face-to-face consultation, for example, a microphone 51 as shown in Fig. 9 is installed to collect the audio of the conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8. The receiving unit 15 acquires the audio information of the conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 collected by the microphone 51.

[0059] Even in a face-to-face consultation format between the client 2 and the advisor 8, the question proposing device 1 can achieve the same effects as the first to third embodiments by being provided with a configuration suited to the face-to-face consultation format as described above.

[0060] The question proposing device according to the present disclosure may further adopt the following configuration. For example, the question proposing device may include a feedback collection unit 17 as shown in FIG. 10 in addition to the configurations of the first to third embodiments. The feedback collection unit 17 collects information about the merits and demerits of the content of the questions proposed by the question proposing device 1 (hereinafter also referred to as feedback information). A method for collecting feedback information includes, but is not limited to, collecting the feedback information from the client 2 and the advisor 8 in the form of a questionnaire after the end of a consultation. The collected feedback information may be used, for example, to review the question information source data in the first embodiment, or to learn to update the question information generation model in the second and third embodiments. Note that the question proposing device 1 shown in FIG. 10 also includes the same configurations as those of the first to third embodiments, but these configurations are not shown in FIG. 10.

[0061] Furthermore, the question proposing device may also have the following configuration. For example, the question proposing device may be provided with a receiving unit 18 as shown in FIG. 11 in addition to the configuration of the first to third embodiments. The receiving unit 18 receives request information indicating which attribute of the client 2 should be prioritized from an administrator. The administrator is an administrator associated with the client 2. In the first to third embodiments, the client 2 is a high school student, so the parent or guardian of the client 2 is set as the administrator. Furthermore, if the high school attended by the client 2 has introduced a consultation service providing system, a school teacher may be set as the administrator.

[0062] For example, such an administrator operates a terminal device (hereinafter also referred to as an administrator terminal) 6 to output request information indicating an attribute (e.g., information about a desired career) that the administrator wants to prioritize among multiple attributes of the client 2 from the administrator terminal 6 to the question proposing device 1. The receiving unit 18 of the question proposing device 1 receives the request information.

[0063] The extraction unit 12 in the first embodiment and the generation unit 14 in the second and third embodiments extract or generate question information using the request information received by the reception unit 18. In this case, the question information source data used by the extraction unit 12 includes question information representing the content of a question that assumes the request information, associated with priority attribute information (information representing priority attributes). Furthermore, the generation unit 14 also uses question information that takes the request information into consideration to generate a question information generation model. Furthermore, when the request information is received by the reception unit 18, the request information is input as input information for the question information generation model. Note that the question proposing device 1 shown in FIG. 11 also has the same configuration as those in the first to third embodiments, but these configurations are not shown in FIG. 11.

[0064] Furthermore, in the third embodiment, the question proposing device 1 is provided with the speech recognition unit 16, but the speech recognition unit 16 may be omitted in the following cases. For example, if the receiving unit 15 can receive text data of a conversation between the client 2 and the advisor 8 that has been speech-recognized from a computer device in the consultation service providing system instead of receiving speech information, the receiving unit 15 may receive the text data of the conversation as conversation information. In such cases, the speech recognition unit 16 may be omitted.

[0065] Furthermore, in the first to third embodiments, it is assumed that the question proposing device 1 proposes question information to both the client 2 and the advisor 8. Alternatively, the question proposing device 1 may propose question information to either the client 2 or the advisor 8. In this case, question information source data is set or a question information generation model is generated to propose question information to either the client 2 or the advisor 8. Furthermore, in a configuration that supports the face-to-face consultation method described above, the question proposing device 1 is connected to only one of the client's display device 31 and the advisor's display device 91, which proposes question information.

[0066] Another embodiment of the question proposing device according to the present disclosure may have a configuration as shown in FIG. 12 . The question proposing device 60 shown in FIG. 12 is, for example, a computer device, and includes an acquisition unit 61, an extraction unit 62, and an output unit 63 as functional units implemented by executing a computer program. The acquisition unit 61 acquires attribute information representing the attributes of a client. The extraction unit 62 extracts question information from a storage unit storing question information source data using the acquired attribute information of the client and pre-assigned attribute information of the advisor serving the client. The question information source data is data in which multiple pieces of question information representing questions to assist a consultation between a client and an advisor are associated with either the attributes of the client or the attributes of the advisor, or a combination of the attributes of the client and the advisor. The output unit 63 outputs the extracted question information. Note that the acquisition unit 11, extraction unit 12, and output unit 13 of the question proposing device 1 of the first embodiment described above are examples of the acquisition unit 61, extraction unit 62, and output unit 63, respectively.

[0067] Next, an example of the operation of question proposing device 60 will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of question proposing device 60. Fig. 13 can also be considered to be a diagram illustrating an example of a question proposing method.

[0068] For example, the acquisition unit 61 acquires attribute information representing the attributes of the client (step 201 in FIG. 13). Thereafter, the extraction unit 62 uses the acquired attribute information of the client and pre-assigned attribute information of the advisor who will assist the client to extract question information from the storage unit storing the question information source data as described above (step 202). Thereafter, the output unit 63 outputs the extracted question information (step 203).

[0069] The question proposing device 60 is configured to output question information representing the content of a question that supports an interview according to the attribute information of the seeker and the attribute information of the advisor. When the seeker or the advisor receives the question information output from the question proposing device 60 and asks a question according to the question information, it is expected that an interview (conversation) will be held in which the advisor can provide the seeker with information that is useful to the seeker. Thus, the question proposing device 60 can further enhance the interview between the seeker 2 and the advisor 8 so that useful information can be provided to the seeker 2 during the interview.

[0070] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes. (Appendix 1) an acquisition unit that acquires attribute information representing attributes of a client; an extraction unit that extracts question information from a storage unit that stores a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor, the question information being associated with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, and that uses the acquired attribute information of the seeker and pre-assigned attribute information of the advisor who will be assisting the seeker; an output unit that outputs the extracted question information; A question suggestion device comprising: (Appendix 2) A generating unit is provided in place of the extracting unit, which generates question information using the attribute information of the seeker acquired by the acquiring unit and the attribute information of the advisor who will assist the seeker. 10. The question suggestion device of claim 1. (Appendix 3) The generating unit generates question information using a question information generation model that receives as input the attribute information of the seeker acquired by the acquiring unit and the attribute information of the advisor who will assist the seeker and outputs question information. 10. The question suggestion device of claim 2. (Appendix 4) The question information output by the output unit includes question information for a client and question information for an advisor, The output unit outputs the question information to an output destination according to the type of the question information. 10. The question suggestion device of claim 1. (Appendix 5) a receiving unit for receiving conversation information representing the content of a conversation between a consultant and an advisor; The generating unit generates question information using information on the content of the conversation obtained from the received conversation information, attribute information of the seeker acquired by the acquiring unit, attribute information of the advisor who will assist the seeker, and a question information generation model. 4. The question suggestion device of claim 3. (Appendix 6) The display device is connected to a display device for a client that provides information to the client and a display device for an advisor that provides information to the advisor, The output unit outputs question information for the client to the display device for the client, and outputs question information for the advisor to the display device for the advisor, and performs display control to display the output question information on each of the display devices for the client and the advisor. 5. The question suggestion device of claim 4. (Appendix 7) a receiving unit for receiving, from a manager associated with the client, request information indicating an attribute to be prioritized among a plurality of attributes of the client; The generating unit generates question information by using the request information received by the receiving unit. 10. The question suggestion device of claim 2. (Appendix 8) The client is a high school student, the advisor is a working adult, and the client is seeking career advice. 10. The question suggestion device of claim 1. (Appendix 9) By computer, Acquire attribute information that represents the attributes of the person seeking advice, extracting question information from a storage unit in which a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor is stored as question information source data in association with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes; and Output the extracted question information How to suggest questions. (Appendix 10) A process of acquiring attribute information representing attributes of the client; A process of extracting question information from a storage unit in which a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor is stored as question information source data in association with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, using the seeker's attribute information acquired and the advisor's attribute information provided in advance; A process to output the extracted question information. A computer program that causes a computer to execute the following.

[0071] Note that some or all of the configurations described in Supplementary Notes 2 to 8, which are dependent on Supplementary Note 1, may also be dependent on Supplementary Notes 9 and 10 in the same dependent relationship as Supplementary Notes 2 to 8. Furthermore, not limited to Supplementary Notes 1, 9, and 10, but within the scope of each of the above-mentioned embodiments, some or all of the configurations described as Supplements may also be dependent on various hardware, software, various recording means for recording software, or systems.

[0072] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, each embodiment can be combined with other embodiments as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 1,60 Questioning Proposal Device 11,61 Acquisition Department 12 Extraction unit 13,63 Output Department 14 Generation Department

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires attribute information representing attributes of a client; an extraction unit that extracts question information from a storage unit that stores a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor, the question information being associated with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, and that uses the acquired attribute information of the seeker and pre-assigned attribute information of the advisor who will be assisting the seeker; an output unit that outputs the extracted question information; A question suggestion device comprising:

2. A generating unit is provided in place of the extracting unit, which generates question information using the attribute information of the seeker acquired by the acquiring unit and the attribute information of the advisor who will assist the seeker. The question suggestion device according to claim 1 .

3. The generating unit generates question information using a question information generation model that receives as input the attribute information of the seeker acquired by the acquiring unit and the attribute information of the advisor who will assist the seeker and outputs question information. The question suggestion device according to claim 2 .

4. The question information output by the output unit includes question information for a client and question information for an advisor, The output unit outputs the question information to an output destination according to the type of the question information. The question suggestion device according to claim 1 .

5. a receiving unit for receiving conversation information representing the content of a conversation between a consultant and an advisor; The generating unit generates question information using information on the content of the conversation obtained from the received conversation information, attribute information of the seeker acquired by the acquiring unit, attribute information of the advisor who will assist the seeker, and a question information generation model. The question suggesting device according to claim 3 .

6. The display device is connected to a display device for a client that provides information to the client and a display device for an advisor that provides information to the advisor, The output unit outputs question information for the client to the display device for the client, and outputs question information for the advisor to the display device for the advisor, and performs display control to display the output question information on each of the display devices for the client and the advisor. The question suggesting device according to claim 4 .

7. a receiving unit for receiving, from a manager associated with the client, request information indicating an attribute to be prioritized among a plurality of attributes of the client; The generating unit generates question information by using the request information received by the receiving unit. The question suggestion device according to claim 2 .

8. The client is a high school student, the advisor is a working adult, and the client is seeking career advice. The question suggestion device according to claim 1 .

9. By computer, Acquire attribute information that represents the attributes of the person seeking advice, extracting question information from a storage unit in which a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor is stored as question information source data in association with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes; and Output the extracted question information How to suggest questions.

10. A process of acquiring attribute information representing attributes of the client; A process of extracting question information from a storage unit in which a plurality of question information representing the content of questions to assist a consultation between a seeker and an advisor is stored as question information source data in association with one of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, or a combination of the seeker's attributes and the advisor's attributes, using the seeker's attribute information acquired and the advisor's attribute information provided in advance; A process to output the extracted question information. A computer program that causes a computer to execute the following.

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