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From: thom@rick.dgbt.doc.ca (Thom Whalen)
Subject: Re: Minsky Co-sponsor of Loebner Prize!
Message-ID: <1995Mar15.184945.21844@dgbt.doc.ca>
Sender: news@dgbt.doc.ca (News user)
Organization: Communications Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada
References: <1995Mar9.174912.3406@news.media.mit.edu> <3k2evu$ldb$1@mhadg.production.compuserve.com> <korcuska-1303951826450001@korcuska.ils.nwu.edu>
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 18:49:45 GMT
Lines: 43

In article <korcuska-1303951826450001@korcuska.ils.nwu.edu> korcuska@ils.nwu.edu (Michael Korcuska) writes:
>
>This is not to criticize TIPS.  But Whalen admits his goal isn't natural
>language understanding, but helping people get information.  Is this the
>scientific goal the loebner prize hopes to encourage?  Or what?
>
As Jorn Barger has pointed out, the two are not completely independent.
At the very least, you can consider TIPS to be a low hurdle for other,
"real" AI researchers to try to clear in pursuit of "real" scientific
goals.

>Is the method used by TIPS published anywhere?

The precursor to TIPS, CHAT, has been described in the literature
(originally with the rather ugly name, "COMODA"):

Whalen, T. E. and Patrick, A. S. (1990) COMODA: A conversational model 
for data  base access.  Behaviour and Information Technology, 9(2), 
93-110.

Patrick, A.S., & Whalen, T.E. (1992). "Field Testing a
Natural-Language Information System: Usage Characteristics and
User's Comments". Interacting with Computers, 4, 218-230.

Patrick, A.S., Jacques-Locmelis, W., & Whalen, T.E. (1993). "The
Role of Previous Questions and Answers in Natural-Language
Dialogues with Computers". International Journal of
Human-Computer Interaction, 5, 129-145.

TIPS uses most of the same philosophy and methodological approach,
but a different and rather more powerful (and, I believe, unique)
approach to structuring the information.  As a propietary technology,
owned by the Government of Canada, the details are maintained as trade
secrets.  If we decide to patent it, then they will be publicly known.
We are not in a hurry because I am still exploring the implications
of the technology (first you invent it, then you learn to use it :-).
So far, we are not even offering TIPS for commercial licenses.

-- 
   Thomas Whalen, Ph.D.   thom@dgbt.doc.ca   (613) 990-4683       
     Communications Research Centre, Government of Canada
                    http://debra.dgbt.doc.ca/
For a good time, 'telnet debra.dgbt.doc.ca 3000' and ask about sex.
