Character Gender Identification Using Multi-Task Self-Training

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing character gender identification methods rely on small-scale annotated datasets and external knowledge, leading to inefficiencies and error propagation, and existing methods for inferring gender from names are not reliable or accessible for new languages.

Innovation Solution

A method involving a multi-task self-training paradigm that iteratively trains a model for both speaker identification and gender identification using unlabeled corpora, leveraging a new annotation guideline and curriculum training to select suitable pseudo-labeled data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If manual annotation of character gender is performed, then annotation accuracy is improved, but annotation cost and time increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveannotation accuracyVSAvoidannotation time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-processing the text to identify character mentions and extract contextual information before the actual gender identification task. This includes segmenting text into informative sections and preparing candidate character mentions, which reduces the complexity of subsequent annotation or model processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the text into informative sections that are more likely to contain gender-related information about characters. This segmentation allows the model to focus on relevant portions of the text rather than processing entire documents, improving both efficiency and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If large-scale annotated datasets are constructed, then model training quality is improved, but annotation cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemodel training qualityVSAvoidannotation cost
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements self-service through self-training mechanisms where the model iteratively improves itself by processing unlabeled data. The model generates its own training examples from unlabeled corpora, reducing dependency on expensive manual annotation while continuously improving performance through multiple training iterations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses partial action by focusing annotation efforts on only the most informative sections of text rather than annotating entire documents. This selective approach allows constructing larger datasets with reduced annotation burden by concentrating resources on high-value information segments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Productivity

If name-based gender inference is used, then processing speed is improved, but reliability decreases for new languages

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocessing speedVSAvoidgender identification reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameters used for gender identification from relying solely on name features to incorporating contextual features from informative text sections. This parameter change allows the model to adapt to different languages and contexts, improving reliability while maintaining efficiency through focused processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

4Measurement precision

If pipeline solutions with NER and coreference resolution are used, then gender identification capability is improved, but error propagation increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegender identification capabilityVSAvoiderror propagation
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple tasks including speaker identification, coreference resolution, and gender identification into a unified multi-task model. This integration allows the model to learn joint representations and reduce error propagation by coordinating these tasks within a single framework rather than chaining separate pipeline components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal multi-task model that performs multiple functions simultaneously: speaker identification, coreference resolution, and gender identification. This multi-functional approach improves reliability by ensuring consistent information flow across tasks and reducing the accumulation of errors that occur in sequential pipeline solutions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS20260044675A1Multi-task self-training for character gender identification
Publication Date: 2026.02.12 TENCENT AMERICA LLC
  • US20260044675A1 patent drawing
  • US20260044675A1 patent drawing
  • US20260044675A1 patent drawing

AI summary

A method and apparatus that identifies one or more characters within a text; determines one or more informative sections within the text, the one or more informative sections providing information regarding a gender of the one or more characters within the text; selects a most informative section from the one or more informative sections; extracts unlabeled instances corresponding to the gender of the one or more characters from the most informative section; iteratively trains a multi-task model using unlabeled corpora, the multi-task model performing both speaker identification and gender identification; and labels the gender of the one or more characters based on the extracted unlabeled instances and the multi-task model.