Dialog System Using Dual Agents for Response Correction

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current dialog systems often produce inappropriate responses, leading to user disappointment and dialog failures, as they fail to understand the content of the conversation, making it difficult to detect and recover from such failures.

Innovation Solution

A dialog method involving two agents that receive user input, determine and present responses, and acquire reactions to adjust their responses when the initial response is deemed inappropriate, using facial expressions and feedback to detect and address failures, thereby continuing the conversation effectively.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a dialog system generates responses based on predetermined scenarios or previous speeches only, then the system can maintain operational simplicity, but the system produces inappropriate responses and fails to understand conversation content

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresponse appropriatenessVSAvoidsystem structure
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The dialog system is divided into multiple agents with specialized functions: a first agent generates initial responses, while a second agent evaluates and corrects inappropriate responses. This segmentation allows each agent to focus on specific tasks, improving overall response quality without requiring a complete redesign of the system architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements a feedback mechanism where the second agent monitors the first agent's responses and provides corrections when inappropriate responses are detected. This feedback loop enables the system to learn from its mistakes and improve response appropriateness over time, transforming the system from a static scenario-based approach to a dynamic adaptive approach.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If a dialog system uses a single agent to generate responses, then the system structure remains simple, but the system cannot detect and recover from dialog failures

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedialog success rateVSAvoidnumber of agents
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The single agent is segmented into two distinct agents: a first agent responsible for generating responses and a second agent responsible for evaluating and correcting responses. This segmentation enables failure detection and recovery mechanisms while maintaining a relatively simple overall system structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The second agent acts as an intermediary between the first agent and the user, monitoring the first agent's responses and intervening when inappropriate responses are detected. This intermediary role allows the system to detect and recover from dialog failures without requiring complex multi-layered architectures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If the dialog system presents inappropriate responses, then the system can maintain fast response time, but user disappointment increases and dialog failures occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser satisfactionVSAvoidresponse time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The second agent performs preliminary evaluation of the first agent's responses before they are presented to the user. By detecting and correcting inappropriate responses in advance, the system prevents user disappointment and dialog failures, improving user satisfaction without significantly impacting response time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11183187B2Dialog method, dialog system, dialog apparatus and program that gives impression that dialog system understands content of dialog
Publication Date: 2021.11.23 NIPPON TELEGRAPH & TELEPHONE CORP
  • US11183187B2 patent drawing
  • US11183187B2 patent drawing
  • US11183187B2 patent drawing

AI summary

The present invention provides a dialog system comprising a speech receiving step in which the dialog system receives input of a speech of a human, a first speech determination step in which the dialog system determines a first speech which is a speech in response to the speech of the human, a first speech presentation step in which the first speech is presented by a first agent, a reaction acquisition step in which the dialog system acquires a reaction of the human to the first speech, a second speech determination step in which the dialog system determines, when the reaction of the human is a reaction indicating that the first speech is not a speech in response to the speech of the human, a second speech which is different from the first speech, and a second speech presentation step in which the second speech is presented by the second agent.