System and method for identifying the context of a statement made to a virtual robot

A system for testing the context of an input when selecting a set of categories to activate in an automated interface program designed to interact and communicate with users, said system comprising:

• (a) means for defining at least one category associated with actions executable by the automated interface program during interaction with a user, wherein one or more subjects may be associated with the at least one category, and wherein the at least one category includes a focused condition;
• (b) means for maintaining a list of the subjects associated with the most recently activated set of categories;
• (c) means for receiving natural language input from a user;
• (d) means for activating a category if the focused condition of the category matches the input and the subject associated with the category is on the list of the subjects associated with the most recently activated set of categories;
• and
• (e) means for selecting one or more activated categories for execution by the automated interface program.

A mechanism for placing conditions within scripts defining categories that allow the BOT to determine whether a particular category is appropriate to a current conversation with a user, said mechanism comprising:

• (a) means for including said conditions in a BOT script defining a category associated with actions executable by the automated interface program during interaction with a user, wherein one or more subject keywords may be associated with the category, said conditions relating subject keywords to said category;
• (b) means for maintaining an active subjects list comprising subject keywords associated with categories;
• (c) means for activating one or more categories upon a user input when conditions associated with actions associated with the one or more categories are satisfied, wherein said conditions are satisfied if a subject keyword associated with a category matches a subject keyword on the active subjects list;
• and
• (d) means for selecting one or more activated categories for execution by the automated interface program.

A method for identifying the context of input received from a user in an automated interface program, wherein the context of the received user input influences the generation of contextually pertinent output in the automated interface program, the method comprising:

• defining at least one category associated with actions executable by the automated interface program during interaction with a user, wherein one or more subjects may be associated with the at least one category;
• maintaining an active subject list comprising subjects associated with the at least one category;
• receiving user input;
• activating the at least one category if the at least one category matches the received user input, wherein the activation of the at least one category is influenced by an association of the at least one category with a subject on the active subject list;
• updating the active subject list;
• and
• selecting one or more activated categories for execution by the automated interface program.

A system for identifying the context of input received from a user in an automated interface program, wherein the context of the received user input influences the generation of contextually pertinent output in the automated interface program, the system comprising:

• an interface configured to receive input from a user;
• an active subject list comprising a data structure having zero or more subjects;
• a processor comprising a computer useable medium including computer readable program code embodied in the medium configured to interact with a user, the computer readable program code including:
• computer readable program code configured to define at least one category associated with actions executable by the automated interface program during interaction with a user, wherein one or more subjects may be associated with the at least one category;
• computer readable program code configured to activate at least one category if the at least one category matches the received user input, wherein the activation of the at least one category is influenced by an association of the at least one category with a subject on the active subject list;
• computer readable program code configured to update the active subject list;
• and
• computer readable program code configured to select one or more activated categories for execution by the automated interface program.

A computer program product for identifying the context of input received from a user in an automated interface program, wherein the context of the input influences the generation of contextually pertinent output in the automated interface program, the computer program product comprising:

• an interface configured to receive input from a user;
• an active subject list comprising a data structure having zero or more subjects;
• computer readable program code configured to define the at least one category associated with actions executable by the automated interface program during interaction with a user,
• computer readable program code configured to activate the at least one category if the at least one category matches the received user input, wherein the activation of the at least one category may be influenced by an association of the at least one category with a subject on the active subject list;
• computer readable program code configured to update the active subject list;
• and
• computer readable program code configured to select one or more activated categories for execution by the automated interface program.