A Plan-Based Model for Response Generation in Collaborative Task-Oriented Dialogues

TL;DR

This paper introduces a plan-based response generation model for collaborative task-oriented dialogues, focusing on negotiation, disagreement resolution, and cooperative interaction within a shared problem-solving framework.

Contribution

It presents a novel plan-based architecture that models the Propose-Evaluate-Modify cycle and supports negotiation and cooperative responses in dialogue systems.

Findings

The system effectively manages disagreements and negotiations in collaborative dialogues.

It unifies handling of domain actions, problem-solving actions, and beliefs.

The model explains why some questions remain unanswered in dialogues.

Abstract

This paper presents a plan-based architecture for response generation in collaborative consultation dialogues, with emphasis on cases in which the system (consultant) and user (executing agent) disagree. Our work contributes to an overall system for collaborative problem-solving by providing a plan-based framework that captures the {\em Propose-Evaluate-Modify} cycle of collaboration, and by allowing the system to initiate subdialogues to negotiate proposed additions to the shared plan and to provide support for its claims. In addition, our system handles in a unified manner the negotiation of proposed domain actions, proposed problem-solving actions, and beliefs proposed by discourse actions. Furthermore, it captures cooperative responses within the collaborative framework and accounts for why questions are sometimes never answered.