Linguistic approaches to robotics

from text analysis to the synthesis of behavior

Artemy Kotov

Nikita Arinkin

Ľudmila Zaidelman

Anna Zinina

pp. 207-214

in: Polina Eismont, Olga Mitrenina, Asya Pereltsvaig (eds), Language, music and computing, Berlin, Springer, 2019

Abstract

We examine the problem of "understanding robots' and design an F–2 emotional robot to "understand" speech and to support human-like behavior. The suggested system is an applied implementation of the theoretical concept of robotic information flow, suggested by M. Minsky ("proto-specialists") and A. Sloman (CogAff). This system works with real world input – natural texts, speech sound – and produces natural behavioral output – speech, gestures and facial expressions. Unlike other chatbots, the system relies on semantic representation and operates with a set of d-scripts (equivalents to proto-specialists), extracted from advertising and mass media texts as a classification of basic emotional patterns. The process of "understanding" is modelled as the selection of a relevant d-script for the incoming utterance.