Disambiguating user intent in conversational interaction system for large corpus information retrieval

A system for disambiguating user intent in conversational interactions for information retrieval, the system comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• receive information for a set of content items, each of the content items being associated with metadata that describes the corresponding content items;
• receive information for structural knowledge, the structural knowledge showing relationships of multiple types among the content items;
• receive information for a user preference signature, the user preference signature describing preferences of a user for at least one of (i) particular content items and (ii) metadata associated with the content items;
• receive a first input from the user, the first input intended by the user to identify at least one desired content item;
• determine an ambiguity index of the first input;
• upon a condition in which the ambiguity index exceeds a first threshold value:
• upon a condition in which at least one of the structural knowledge, the user preference signature, a location of the user, and a time of the first input is available:
• determine a disambiguated first input based on the first input and the at least one of the structural knowledge, the user preference signature, the location of the user, and the time of the first input;
• upon a condition in which the at least one of the structural knowledge, the user preference signature, the location of the user, and the time of the first input is not available:
• present a question to the user;
• receive a second input from the user in response to the question;
• and
• determine a disambiguated first input based on the first input and the second input;
• and
• select a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the disambiguated first input and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• and
• upon a condition in which the ambiguity index does not exceed the first threshold value, select a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the first input and the metadata associated with the subset of content items.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a data processor for disambiguating user intent in conversational interactions for information retrieval, the plurality of instructions including:

• an instruction that causes the data processor to receive information for a set of content items, each of the content items being associated with metadata that describes the corresponding content items;
• an instruction that causes the data processor to receive information for structural knowledge, the structural knowledge showing relationships of multiple types among the content items;
• an instruction that causes the data processor to receive information for a user preference signature, the user preference signature describing preferences of a user for at least one of (i) particular content items and (ii) metadata associated with the content items;
• an instruction that causes the data processor to receive a first input from the user, the first input intended by the user to identify at least one desired content item;
• an instruction that causes the data processor to determine an ambiguity index of the first input;
• upon a condition in which the ambiguity index exceeds a first threshold value:
• upon a condition in which at least one of the structural knowledge, the user preference signature, a location of the user, and a time of the first input is available:
• an instruction that causes the data processor to determine a disambiguated first input based on the first input and the at least one of the structural knowledge, the user preference signature, the location of the user, and the time of the first input;
• upon a condition in which the at least one of the structural knowledge, the user preference signature, the location of the user, and the time of the first input is not available:
• an instruction that causes the data processor to present a question to the user;
• an instruction that causes the data processor to receive a second input from the user in response to the question;
• and
• an instruction that causes the data processor to determine a disambiguated first input based on the first input and the second input;
• and
• an instruction that causes the data processor to select a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the disambiguated first input and the metadata associated with the subset of content items;
• and
• upon a condition in which the ambiguity index does not exceed the first threshold value, an instruction that causes the data processor to select a subset of content items from the set of content items based on comparing the first input and the metadata associated with the subset of content items.