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Do We Need Natural Language?: Exploring Restricted Language Interfaces for Complex Domains

Published: 02 May 2019 Publication History

Abstract

Natural language interfaces (NLIs) that aim to understand arbitrary language are not only difficult to engineer; they can also create unrealistic expectations of the capabilities of the system, resulting in user confusion and disappointment. We use an interactive language learning game in a 3D blocks world to examine whether limiting a user's communication to a small set of artificial utterances is an acceptable alternative to the much harder task of accepting unrestricted language. We find that such a restricted language interface provides same or better performance on this task while improving user experience indices. This suggests that some NLIs can restrict user languages without sacrificing user experience and highlights the importance of conveying NLI limitations to users.

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cover image ACM Conferences
CHI EA '19: Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
May 2019
3673 pages
ISBN:9781450359719
DOI:10.1145/3290607
Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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Published: 02 May 2019

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  1. chatbots
  2. natural language interfaces
  3. speech technology
  4. user experience

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Cited By

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  • (2024)Enhancing the Resiliency of Automated Web Tests with Natural LanguageProceedings of the 2024 4th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Algorithms10.1145/3700523.3700536(63-69)Online publication date: 27-Sep-2024
  • (2024)Grounding with Structure: Exploring Design Variations of Grounded Human-AI Collaboration in a Natural Language InterfaceProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869028:CSCW2(1-27)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
  • (2024)"It's like a rubber duck that talks back": Understanding Generative AI-Assisted Data Analysis Workflows through a Participatory Prompting StudyProceedings of the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work10.1145/3663384.3663389(1-21)Online publication date: 25-Jun-2024
  • (2024)SashaProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/36435058:1(1-38)Online publication date: 6-Mar-2024
  • (2024)The Human-or-Machine Issue: Turing-Inspired Reflections on an Everyday MatterCommunications of the ACM10.1145/363721067:6(62-69)Online publication date: 23-May-2024
  • (2023)“What It Wants Me To Say”: Bridging the Abstraction Gap Between End-User Programmers and Code-Generating Large Language ModelsProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580817(1-31)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
  • (2023)Demystifying the Role of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Smart City Applications: Background, Motivation, Recent Advances, and Future Research DirectionsWireless Personal Communications10.1007/s11277-023-10312-8130:2(857-908)Online publication date: 16-Mar-2023
  • (2022)Understanding the Design Elements Affecting User Acceptance of Intelligent Agents: Past, Present and FutureInformation Systems Frontiers10.1007/s10796-021-10230-924:3(699-730)Online publication date: 4-Jan-2022
  • (2021)Extensible Chatbot Architecture Using Metamodels of Natural Language UnderstandingElectronics10.3390/electronics1018230010:18(2300)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2021

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