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Figure 6.2.-Overview of Domain model The machine must be able to act upon the information it receives, so it is assumed to have competency in some domain, called the object domain. To communicate about this object domain, the machine must have some additional knowledge called the domain model. When the communication environment is such that each linguistic transaction cannot have an immediate conclusion or effect in the object domain, then it is essential that the domain model be used to determine if a particular makes sense. Otherwise the machine will make any inferences about the information it and the dialogue may become a monologue the human. The efficiency will deteriorate, particularly will be accepting information later when it is handled in Individual user models. language is to accommodate of the transfer for naive users. transaction not be able to is being given, on the side of of information The machine which may prove inadequate the object domain. One of the reasons for natural a wide range of humans in direct and efficient communication. This is best accomplished by taking into account at least some characteristics
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communication. are either specific to particular individuals, or specific to classes of individuals. One example is in default values and assumptions. Different users will have different expectations concerning the values of implicit parameters of the conversation, and will have different underlying assumptions. In order not to burden each user with the necessity to make all of these explicit, it is necessary to make these assumptions and defaults a function of the type of user. Dialogue model The machine must have a working knowledge of what constitutes an acceptable dialogue. Such things as timing and absolute and relative explicitness are considerations pertinent to all users, and may vary from one person to another. In addition, the machine should avoid long series of questions posed to the human in order to clarify discussion, a particular problem with current expert systems such as MYCIN (Shortliffe, 1976). While part of the solution lies in proper default values and assumptions, there may still be need for the human to supply infomlation in response to a perceived need by the ma