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Language Technology for Customer Relations

John Nerbonne

Informatiekunde, Groningen

Computer-Mediated Communication

Consumenten Contacten in 2005

BSC Seminar, Amsterdam

Oct. 12, 2000

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Language Technology

• What is language technology?• What are applications of LT?• Will voices replace screens? • How to get it right• Opportunities for consumer relations

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Well-known LT applications

• Spell checkers– right/wrong, nearest match, variant(s)

• Rough translation tools (AltaVista)

• Postbank’s stock quotations (telephone)

• “Smart” search engines– seek: Kennedy’s daughter

– find: the daughter of J.F.Kennedy, Kennedy’s children, etc.

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Language Technology Tasks

• recognize, analyze words, phrases

• index, search, sort, retrieve, store texts

• find terminology, person/place names

• align translations, correspondences

• organize documentation for maintenance, versions, multilingualism

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Potential Applications

Mode Task Medium/Locale

SpeechHandwritingPrintMultimodal

UnderstandCorrectTranslateIndex,SearchTeach

TelephoneCar, SMS, PCToys, PDAFactory Floor

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Problems with LT

• Language: ambiguous, volatile, sequential– `Don’t stop!’ vs. `Don’t! Stop!’ – Wreck a Nice Beach vs. Recognize Speech– Spoken language quickly fades, is forgotten– Long lists: OK to scan visually, not to hear

• LT is young– OVIS 83% of conversations successful

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Invest in airlines, or, Why face-to-face won’t go away

• High bandwidth

• Social (vs. information) factors:– Shared experience, common space – Inimitable presence of the body– “Bonding”– Showing commitment

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Thinking about LT applications

• Compare LT vs. human• Apply where miss is disastrous • Avoid

– one-time lookups– “general intelligence” – unrestricted language (Annual

Reports, newspapers, patents)

• Cost/benefit analysis• Apply w. back-up• Seek domain

– repeated info. needs – simple logic– limited linguistics

Do ’s Don’t ’s

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Near-term Opportunities • away from PC

– mobile phone, pay phone, SMS

• complex PC navigation– users won’t tolerate menu after menu,..

• “hands-busy” situations– driving, examining, factory floor

• assistance to handicapped

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Emerging Topics

• Flexible delivery– speech, SMS, or

full-screen– via XML

• Support for human communication

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Getting it Right

• New technologies not easy– Bar-code readers (15 year introduction)– Video recorders (1 competent user/family)– Automatic tellers (banks) (90%)– Stoves, washers, dryers, dishwashers,

answering machines,...

• Suchman’s study for Xerox– the green button

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Myths of Interface Design

• Interfaces should allow max. functionality -- “anything goes”– text editors that allow letters

• Wysiwyg is (always) superior– “What you see is what you get”– Problem: documents, graphics for diff. media?

• “Do what I mean, not what I say.”– example problem: overeager spell-checkers

off line

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Glosser

• help with French

– endings (grammar)

– dictionary access

– other examples

– word pronunciation

• web version

– www.let.rug.nl/alfa/• “projects”

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Early Glosser Interface• General mouse control

– Users (tried to) look up word pieces– Solution: make mouse sensitive to words

• First encouraged “overuse”– Some words looked up several times– Solution: remind users

• Users took notes!– Missed “margins” to write in– Solution: allow “gloss” between lines

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Early NLP Interfaces (pre-OVIS)

• Competition with graphics– Windows Excel vs. NLP– Solution: focus on other delivery (phone)

• Based on grammar-book language– When’s the train to Zwolle, ah Meppen?– Solution: base grammar on recorded

interaction

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Relevant Developments

• Informatiekunde, RuG– LT, Web technology

• Computer-Mediated Communication– cooperative program IK, Communicatie- en

Informatiewetenschappen, RuG– 6-month work period in study

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LT for Customer Contact

• Contact needs automation

• LT can support applications now– modest, repetitive, frequently needed

• Repeat until right– Design, implement & evaluate in use