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A general‐purpose natural language interface to an operating system
Author(s) -
Buchheit Paul
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of intelligent systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.291
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1098-111X
pISSN - 0884-8173
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-111x(199607)11:7<409::aid-int1>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - computer science , interface (matter) , natural language user interface , terminology , natural language , human–computer interaction , user interface , programming language , sentence , natural language understanding , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , operating system , linguistics , philosophy , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method
One of the most difficult tasks facing new computer users is the management of data and programs through an operating system (OS) interface. Both command languages and graphical interfaces can impede a user unfamiliar with the terminology and organizational techniques of modern file management systems. Various attempts have been made in recent years to develop systems that will enable users to interact with the computer in natural language. By simplifying the form of user input to an OS, such interfaces allow the user to concentrate on file management tasks rather than on the means of expressing OS‐specific instructions. The Informational Network for a Natural Talking (INFANT) System was originally developed as a conversational system for communication at the level of a small child. It has since been adapted for use as a general‐purpose English language interface for standard OS file management operations. The INFANT System reduces an input sentence to a hierarchy of standardized propositional forms, which are mapped through a propositional knowledge base and a compositional semantics process into a high‐level representation of meaning. Its effectiveness as a working natural language interface has been verified in a pair of experiments performed in a college computer lab. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.