Hidden Understanding Models of Natural Language

Scott Miller, Robert J. Bobrow, Robert Ingria, Richard M. Schwartz

Abstract: We describe and evaluate hidden understanding models, a statistical learning approach to natural language understanding. Given a string of words, hidden understanding models determine the most likely meaning for the string. We discuss 1) the problem of representing meaning in this framework, 2) the structure of the statistical model, 3) the process of training the model, and 4) the process of understanding using the model. Finally, we give experimental results, including results on an ARPA evaluation.