Explanation as Question Answering based on Design Knowledge

TL;DR

This paper introduces AskJill, a question answering agent that leverages User Guides to explain AI agent design and operation interactively, aiming to improve understanding in educational environments.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel question answering system that uses design knowledge from User Guides to generate explanations for AI agents in an interactive setting.

Findings

AskJill effectively answers questions about VERA's design and operation.

Preliminary assessment shows promising results in educational contexts.

The approach enhances understanding without requiring users to read detailed manuals.

Abstract

Explanation of an AI agent requires knowledge of its design and operation. An open question is how to identify, access and use this design knowledge for generating explanations. Many AI agents used in practice, such as intelligent tutoring systems fielded in educational contexts, typically come with a User Guide that explains what the agent does, how it works and how to use the agent. However, few humans actually read the User Guide in detail. Instead, most users seek answers to their questions on demand. In this paper, we describe a question answering agent (AskJill) that uses the User Guide for an interactive learning environment (VERA) to automatically answer questions and thereby explains the domain, functioning, and operation of VERA. We present a preliminary assessment of AskJill in VERA.