Multi-Domain Candidate Answer Routing for Privacy-Aware Assistants
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual assistants struggle to provide answers to user questions in formats that are most useful to the user while maintaining privacy, as they often rely on a single information domain and lack integration with client-based context data.
Innovation Solution
A system that accesses multiple information domains, including server-based and client-based contexts, to provide candidate answers with confidence scores, allowing for selection of the most appropriate format based on user preferences and privacy-preserving data usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single information domain is used to provide answers, then the system complexity is reduced, but the answer format adaptability and user need satisfaction deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the information domain into multiple specialized domains (e.g., local information domain for device-specific data, remote information domain for cloud-based data). Each domain handles specific types of information retrieval, allowing the system to adapt to different user needs while maintaining manageable complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual assistant application is designed with multi-functionality to operate across multiple information domains. It can universally handle different types of queries by routing them to appropriate domains (local or remote), providing diverse answer formats without requiring separate systems for each function.
2Measurement precision
If client-based context data is integrated, then the answer relevance and personalization are improved, but the privacy protection requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by processing sensitive context data locally on the user's device rather than centralizing it. The local information domain handles personal context data (contacts, messages, calendar events) on-device, ensuring that personalized answers can be generated without transmitting private information to remote servers, thus maintaining both relevance and privacy.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual assistant application acts as an intermediary between the user's local data and the information retrieval system. It selectively processes context data locally and only transmits necessary non-sensitive information to remote domains, mediating between personalization needs and privacy protection requirements.
3Reliability
If multiple information domains are accessed, then the candidate answer quality and format diversity are improved, but the information retrieval time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and caching frequently accessed information in the local information domain. Common context data and frequently used information are prepared in advance, allowing the virtual assistant to quickly retrieve answers for routine queries without accessing multiple domains, thus reducing retrieval time while maintaining answer quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by selectively accessing only the necessary information domains based on the specific query type. Rather than always querying all domains, it routes queries to the most appropriate domain (local or remote), performing just enough information retrieval to provide a satisfactory answer, thereby reducing unnecessary time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A device implementing a system for determining an answer to a question includes a processor configured to receive a question from a client device, and send the question to a first information domain comprising plural search subdomains, each of the plural search subdomains being configured to provide a respective candidate answer to the question in a format that differs from those provided by the other search subdomains of the plural search subdomains. The processor is further configured to receive, in response to sending the question, the candidate answer from each of the plural search subdomains, and provide at least one of the candidate answers to the client device, for providing an answer to the question based on the at least one of the candidate answers.