Chinese Intent Classification via Integrated Word-Character Embeddings

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Solution Overview

Problem

Chinese intent classification is challenging due to the logographic nature of the Chinese language, where words are composed of characters that have independent meanings, and pre-trained word embeddings struggle to represent low-frequency domain-specific words and fail to adapt to contextual information.

Innovation Solution

A method that dynamically integrates character features into word embeddings using ensemble techniques, incorporating character or character n-gram vectors to enhance representation, and employs a contextual information extraction module to leverage sentence context for improved intent classification.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If pre-trained word embeddings are used for Chinese intent classification, then the classification process is simple, but the representation accuracy of low-frequency domain-specific words is poor

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesimplicity of classification processVSAvoidrepresentation accuracy of low-frequency words
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments Chinese words into their constituent characters and extracts character-level features using CNN. This segmentation allows the model to capture morphological information from characters, which is particularly effective for low-frequency words where character-level patterns can provide meaningful representations even when the entire word is rare.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a composite representation by combining word-level embeddings with character-level embeddings. This composite approach integrates both the semantic information from pre-trained word embeddings and the morphological information from character features, resulting in a more robust representation that works well for both frequent and low-frequency words.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

2Productivity

If static pre-trained word embeddings are used, then the model training is fast, but the adaptation to contextual information is poor

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetraining speedVSAvoidadaptation to contextual information
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces dynamic elements by adding character-level feature extraction that adapts to each specific input sentence. The CNN-based character feature extractor processes the actual characters in each sentence, allowing the model to dynamically adapt to contextual information rather than relying solely on static pre-trained embeddings.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent adds a new dimension to the representation by incorporating character-level features alongside word-level embeddings. This additional dimensional information provides contextual adaptability without significantly increasing training complexity, as the character features are extracted through efficient CNN operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Measurement precision

If character-level features are extracted and integrated with word embeddings, then the representation accuracy improves, but the computational complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverepresentation accuracyVSAvoidcomputational complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces complex manual feature engineering with automated CNN-based character feature extraction. The CNN automatically learns relevant character-level patterns through convolution operations, eliminating the need for hand-crafted features while maintaining computational efficiency through optimized neural network operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the parameters of the embedding representation by combining word embeddings with character embeddings. This parameter enhancement enriches the feature space without proportionally increasing computational complexity, as the character embeddings are generated through efficient local convolution operations rather than full-sentence processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS10831997B2Intent classification method and system
Publication Date: 2020.11.10 CHONGQING XINGJIE SHUXING TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP ENTERPRISE (LLP)
  • US10831997B2 patent drawing
  • US10831997B2 patent drawing
  • US10831997B2 patent drawing

AI summary

An intent classification method and a system for realizing the intent classification method are provided. The intent classification method can be used for determining an intent class of a sentence input in a language containing information-bearing characters, such as Chinese. The method specifically comprises a step of obtaining at least one set of word embeddings and character embeddings from the sentence input to thereby generate at least one set of integrated word-character embeddings, and a step of determining an intent class corresponding to the sentence input based on the at least one set of integrated word-character embeddings. Herein, each of the at least one set of integrated word-character embeddings corresponds to one of the at least one set of word embeddings and character embeddings.