Argumentative trainer
Name
Imre Purret
Abstract
The aim of the research paper is to create a dialogue system in Estonian language that would be able to use argumentation and would help the user develop their argumentation skills. The application was restricted – it had to communicate within a narrow topic. The dialogues under observation had participant A proposing action T to participant B. In the first exercise, the dialogue system acted as participant A and the user as participant B, the roles were reversed in the second exercise. Action T = becoming a vegetarian.
To create the application, the author familiarized himself with the core principles of a conversational agent, the argumentation theory and the theory regarding different conversation tactics.
As a result of the research, an independent Java application with a graphic user interface was created which employed natural language as input. To facilitate communication with the user, argumentation model based on the model of human motivational sphere and argumentative process was used. In order to influence the user, communication tactics such as tempting, persuading and threatening were used.
To create a model of human motivational sphere from natural language, a database was used for identifying different key words and phrases (input was checked against regular expression). The database also included an index of answer files and links to suitable answers, as well as files corresponding to different communication tactics containing various arguments to present to the user.
The use of natural language as input is both an advantage and a disadvantage for the application as it helps in creating a more natural dialogue but at the same time, if the database is compiled poorly, it can turn the conversation unnatural in a few turns.
There are several ways for further developing the application, such as expanding the database or making the user interface accessible in a web environment.
Graduation Thesis language
Estonian
Graduation Thesis type
Bachelor - Computer Science
Supervisor(s)
Mare Koit
Defence year
2012