A model of intentional communication: AIRBUS (Asymmetric Intention Recognition with Bayesian Updating of Signals)
Jan de Ruiter, Chris Cummins · PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) · 2012
The rapid and fluent nature of human communicative interactions strongly suggests the existence of an online mechanism for intention recognition. In this paper, we discuss the requirements of such a system, drawing upon philosophical and empirical considerations, and propose a new mathematical model that addresses these requirements. Our model provides a way of integrating knowledge about both directions of the relationship between linguistic expressions and communicative intentions, through a rapid process of Bayesian update. It enables us to frame predictions about the process of intention recognition. Moreover, by equipping this model with a measure of entropy, we can also draw predictions about the circumstances under which utterance planning can start before the preceding utterance is completed, and about when explicit other-repair mechanisms must be invoked to resolve misalignment. We sketch an example of this model in operation and discuss its implications for a broader theory of communication.