Data-Driven Strategies for an Automated Dialogue System

Hilda Hardy, Tomek Strzalkowski, Min Wu, Cristian Ursu, Nick Webb, Alan W. Biermann, R. Bryce Inouye, Ashley McKenzie

Abstract: We present a prototype natural-language problem-solving application for a financial services call center, developed as part of the Amities multilingual human-computer dialogue project. Our automated dialogue system, based on empirical evidence from real call-center conversations, features a data-driven approach that allows for mixed system/customer initiative and spontaneous conversation. Preliminary evaluation results indicate efficient dialogues and high user satisfaction, with performance comparable to or better than that of current conversational travel information systems.