Context-Based Social Agent Interaction

Number: 20250156675
Published: 2025-05-15
Filed: 2021-06-10
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Scanlon; Raymond J. et al.
CPC: G06F40/35; G06N3/006; G06T13/40; G06T19/006; G06T19/20
Verdict: Low Notable software
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Context-based interactive social-agent (character) interaction technique.

Abstract

A system for performing context-based management of social agent interactions includes processing hardware and a memory storing a software code. The processing hardware executes the software code to detect the presence of an interaction partner, identify a present state of an interaction with the interaction partner, and to determine, based on the present state, a first score for each of multiple interactive expressions for use in initiating or continuing the interaction. The processing hardware further executes the software code to predict a state change of the interaction based on each of the interactive expressions to provide multiple predicted state changes corresponding respectively to the multiple interactive expressions, to determine, using the predicted state changes, a second score for each of the interactive expressions, and to select, using the first scores and the second scores, at least one of the interactive expressions to initiate or continue the interaction.

Background

BACKGROUND

Advances in artificial intelligence have led to the development of a variety of devices providing dialogue-based interfaces that simulate social agents. However, conventional dialogue interfaces typically project a single synthesized persona that tends to lack character and naturalness. In addition, the dialog interfaces provided by the conventional art are typically transactional, and indicate to a user that they are listening for a communication from the user by responding to an affirmative request by the user.

In contrast to conventional transactional social agent interactions, natural communications between human beings are more nuanced, varied, and dynamic. That is to say, typical shortcomings of conventional social agents include their inability to engage in natural, fluid interactions, their inability to process more than one statement or question concurrently, and their inability to repair a flaw in an interaction, such as a miscommunication or other conversation breakdown. Moreover, although existing social agents offer some degree of user personalization, for example tailoring responses to an individual user's characteristics or preferences, that personalization remains limited by their fundamentally transactional design, which makes it unnecessary for conventional social agents to remember more than a limited set of predefined keywords, such as user names and basic user preferences.

Claims

1. A system comprising: a processing hardware; and a memory storing a software code; the processing hardware configured to execute the software code to: detect presence of an interaction partner; identify a present state of an interaction with the interaction partner; determine, based on the present state, a first score for each of a plurality of interactive expressions for one of initiating or continuing the interaction to provide a plurality of first scores corresponding respectively to the plurality of interactive expressions; predict a state change of the interaction based on each of the plurality of interactive expressions to provide a plurality of predicted state changes corresponding respectively to the plurality of interactive expressions; determine, using the plurality of predicted state changes, a second score for each of the plurality of interactive expressions to provide a plurality of second scores corresponding respectively to the plurality of interactive expressions; and select, using the plurality of first scores and the plurality of second scores, at least one of the plurality of interactive expressions to initiate or continue the interaction. || 11. A method for use by a system having a processing hardware and a memory storing an interaction manager software code, the method comprising: detecting, by the software code executed by the processing hardware, presence of an interaction partner; identifying, by the software code executed by the processing hardware, a present state of an interaction with the interaction partner; determining, by the software code executed by the processing hardware based on the present state, a first score for each of a plurality of interactive expressions for one of initiating or continuing the interaction to provide a plurality of first scores corresponding respectively to the plurality of interactive expressions; predicting, by the software code executed by the processing hardware, a state change of the interaction based on each of the plurality of interactive expressions to provide a plurality of predicted state changes corresponding respectively to the plurality of interactive expressions; determining, by the software code executed by the processing hardware and using the plurality of predicted state changes, a second score for each of the plurality of interactive expressions to provide a plurality of second scores corresponding respectively to the plurality of interactive expressions; and selecting, by the software code executed by the processing hardware and using the plurality of first scores and the plurality of second scores, at least one of the plurality of interactive expressions to initiate or continue the interaction.