US 2015/0317367 A1 · CORROBORATING FACTS IN ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Abstract

A query is defined that has an answer formed of terms from electronic documents. A repository having facts is examined to identify attributes corresponding to terms in the query. The electronic documents are examined to find other terms that commonly appear near the query terms. Hypothetical facts representing possible answers to the query are created based on the information identified in the fact repository and the commonly-appearing terms. These hypothetical facts are corroborated using the electronic documents to determine how many documents support each fact. Additionally, contextual clues in the documents are examined to determine whether the hypothetical facts can be expanded to include additional terms. A hypothetical fact that is supported by at least a certain number of documents, and is not contained within another fact with at least the same level of support, is presented as likely correct.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method for identifying facts described by electronic documents, comprising:

defining a query, the query posing a question having an answer formed of terms from the electronic documents;
creating one or more hypothetical facts in response to the query and the electronic documents, each hypothetical fact representing a possible answer to the query;
corroborating the one or more hypothetical facts using the electronic documents to identify a likely correct fact, wherein corroborating a hypothetical fact using the electronic documents comprises:
determining how many of the electronic documents support the hypothetical fact;
and
identifying the hypothetical fact as likely correct if an amount of support for the hypothetical fact surpasses a threshold, wherein the threshold is at least more than one electronic document of the electronic documents;
and
presenting the identified likely correct fact as the answer to the query.

5 more elements

A system for identifying facts described by electronic documents, comprising:

one or more processors;
memory;
and
one or more programs stored in the memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions to:
define a query, the query posing a question having an answer formed of terms from the electronic documents;
create one or more hypothetical facts in response to the query and the electronic documents, each hypothetical fact representing a possible answer to the query;
corroborate the one or more hypothetical facts using the electronic documents to identify a likely correct fact;
and
present the identified likely correct fact as the answer to the query;
wherein the instructions to corroborate a hypothetical fact using the electronic documents comprises instructions to:
determine how many of the electronic documents support the hypothetical fact;
and
identify the hypothetical fact as likely correct if an amount of support for the hypothetical fact surpasses a threshold, wherein the threshold is at least more than one electronic document of the electronic documents.

10 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computer, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

defining a query, the query posing a question having an answer formed of terms from the electronic documents;
creating one or more hypothetical facts in response to the query and the electronic documents, each hypothetical fact representing a possible answer to the query;
corroborating the one or more hypothetical facts using the electronic documents to identify a likely correct fact;
and
presenting the identified likely correct fact as the answer to the query;
wherein the instructions for corroborating a hypothetical fact using the electronic documents comprises instructions for:
determining how many of the electronic documents support the hypothetical fact;
and
identifying the hypothetical fact as likely correct if an amount of support for the hypothetical fact surpasses a threshold, wherein the threshold is at least more than one electronic document of the electronic documents.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Corroborating facts in electronic documents

Life of this patent

Corroborating facts in electronic documents

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30