Patent Publication Number: US-2023161457-A1

Title: Method and System for Configuring Automatic Generation of Narratives from Data

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE AND PRIORITY CLAIM TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/253,556, filed Jan. 22, 2019, entitled “Method and System for Configuring Automatic Generation of Narratives from Data”, now U.S. Pat. No. ______, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/211,444, filed Mar. 14, 2014, entitled “Method and System for Configuring Automatic Generation of Narratives from Data”, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,185,477, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/799,328, filed Mar. 15, 2013, entitled “Method and System for Configuring Automatic Generation of Narratives from Data”, the entire disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     INTRODUCTION 
     A method or system for automatically generating narratives from data must be configured appropriately in order to, on the one hand, generate narratives relevant to the needs of a particular audience, and, on the other, to ingest, organize, and process the available data for this purpose. We have previously developed methods and systems for automatically generating narratives from data; and we have also developed methods and systems for devising and implementing configurable platforms capable of carrying out and implementing such methods and systems in order to generate relevant narratives based on appropriate data as described above. 
     Here, we describe a method and system for configuring such a platform. The configuration process itself is carried out, primarily, by people skilled in the development of editorial content, as opposed to technology developers. A method or system aimed at supporting this process must comprise several elements: First, a delineation of the information that must be provided by these users, comprising the necessary configuration, about the available data, derivations describing and implementing important analyses based on that data, appropriate conclusions and interpretations based on those data and analyses, relevant narrative forms, and appropriate words and phrases for conveying selected data, derivations, and interpretations in linguistic sequences and structures to readers, in order to generate appropriate narratives. Second, an interface and interaction model aimed at eliciting and describing this configuration information, comprising methods and systems for supporting users in determining and notating the necessary information. And third, a method and system for enabling users to quickly and effectively determine whether the configurations they have specified are leading to the desired outcomes with regard to the generation of appropriate narratives and/or utilization of the available data, and if not, why, in order to effectively and efficiently iterate on and improve these configurations. 
     Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an interface showing high-level Outlines that have been specified in the current configuration according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a specific story Outline that has been selected for inspection or further development, and its constituent Content Blocks according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an Outline in an “expanded” view, in which all of its constituent Content Blocks, associated Angles, etc., may be inspected or selected for further development according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  4    illustrates types of Models available for utilization in configuring and ultimately generating a story according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a Derivation having been selected for inspection or refinement according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  6    illustrates operations provided by a specification language available to the user through a searchable reference tool according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  7    illustrates the interface supplying suggestions about specific entities in the current configuration to which a user might be referring as he or she enters the names of specific entities according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  8    illustrates an error message displayed when the user supplies a name that doesn&#39;t refer to an existing entity in the configuration according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  9    illustrates the result of an evaluation according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  10    illustrates the system presenting Angles to the user according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  11    illustrates the parent Angle of  FIG.  10    fully expanded to display all the Angles it comprises according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  12    illustrates the same list as  FIG.  11   , after the conditions of applicability have been tested on data determined by the user, which aids in finding errors in these conditions according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  13    illustrates how the Angles with true conditions sorted by interestingness according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  14    illustrates the Content Blocks associated with one of the parent Angles according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  15    illustrates another set of Content Blocks in expanded form according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  16    illustrates a Blueprint Set including a series of alternative ways of expressing the facts relevant to a given Angle in a given Content Block according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  17    illustrates a Blueprint Set with errors due to incorrect data references, along with suggestions by the system as to other data in the Models that the user might incorporate according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  18    illustrates general subordinate configuration elements that can be edited through modal dialog boxes according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  19    illustrates the editing of Phraseblocks according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  20    illustrates the error message that would be generated if the configuration had an error in it according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  21    illustrates the initial screen seen by a user upon returning to work on a configuration in progress according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  22    illustrates a configuration tool loaded with a number of different sets of sample data according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  23    illustrates a portion of a Model with sample data loaded into it according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  24    illustrates the database query that has been written in order to import a sample data set according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  25    illustrates an error messages and trace capabilities provide by the configuration tool when generating an entire story according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG.  26    illustrates an error messages and trace capabilities provide by the configuration tool when generating an entire story according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     1. Information Comprising the Necessary Configuration 
     In the configurable platform for generating narratives from data that we have developed, the configuration information that must be supplied in order to generate appropriate narratives from relevant information is as follows; these elements and their function are described more extensively in previous patents and disclosures (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,374,848, 8,355,903, 8,630,844, 8,775,161, 8,886,520, 8,892,417, 9,697,178, and 10,657,201, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/186,346, the entire disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference): 
     i. Models: These comprise appropriate structures for organizing and accessing the data about specific entities and events in generating relevant narratives. For example, as described in the above-referenced and incorporated U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,374,848 and 8,355,903, the data organized by the models will typically comprise structured numeric and/or quasi-numeric data, i.e., the data will fall into particular fields and/or categories and will be known to relate to specific events, situations, entities, etc., or aggregations thereof. 
     ii. Derivations: These comprise relevant aggregations and other functions the values of which are determined by the data organized by and contained in the Models. 
     iii. Angles and Angle Families: Angles comprise larger thematic structures that aggregate, connect, and characterize data in understandable and useful terms. Angle Families are sets of related Angles that share common conditions and attributes. 
     iv. Content Blocks: These comprise the rhetorical structures associated with a given story type and include:
         a. Content Nodes: Sequence of related Content Blocks, comprising the hierarchical description of a narrative.   b. Outlines: Types of Content Nodes representing the high-level structure of a story.   c. Basic Content Blocks: Structures specifying the relevant entities (Model components), Angles/Angle Families (interpretations), and linguistic forms (in the form of Blueprint Sets, Blueprints, and Phraseblocks), which constitute portions of a narrative.   d. Blueprint Sets, Blueprints, and Phraseblocks: The structures representing actual words and phrases used to convey information relating to particular angles or derived features in the context of particular content blocks.       

     2. Interfaces for Interaction in Support of Configuration 
     To support users in specifying the necessary information described above in configuring a mechanism such as the ones described in the above-referenced and incorporated patents and patent applications for generating stories from data in order to create stories of a desired form from specified types of available data, we have developed a graphical user interface tool that elicits this configuration information from users in a well-structured manner, as well as supporting them in supplying this information. The rest of this section is devoted to depicting and describing screens that implement important aspects of this interface and process. It should be understood that varied and distinct designs capable of supporting users in supplying the necessary configuration information in functionally equivalent ways could be developed and implemented. 
     This interface tool and associated interaction model do not constrain users (editorial experts) to supplying the necessary configuration information in a fixed order. Rather, users can navigate from one screen to another, supplying this information in whatever sequence makes sense to them. Many users will utilize the interface in a “top down” manner, starting by specifying the high-level Outline and its constituent Content Nodes and Content Blocks, then proceeding to Angles and Angle Families, Derivations, Blueprint Sets, etc. Others will proceed in a more “bottom up” fashion, starting from Models, and then specifying Derivations, Angles and Angle Families, and various Content Blocks, before finally composing these into a unified Outline. 
     As users develop and refine the necessary configurations using this interface, the information they provide is stored in a database. The interface lets users see which portions of the necessary configuration have been completed, and which remain to be developed; and allows them to test portions of the configuration under development in order to assess its suitability and correctness. When the user is satisfied with the configuration information, it is transferred to the configurable platform, which then generates narratives at scale (i.e., potentially large numbers of narratives, each based on different input data) as specified by the configuration. 
     In most of the following examples, the configurations being depicted as under development are aimed at describing biographical information associated with an individual. It should be clear that different narratives with different aims, and utilizing different kinds of data, would entail the development of different configurations using this interface and interaction model, and that the specifics provided here are for illustrative purposes only. 
       FIG.  1    depicts the interface showing the high-level Outlines that have been specified so far in the current configuration. The Outline to be inspected and/or worked on can be selected from that navigation list provided on the left side. The Outline that has been selected (“Chronology”) is disjunctive, and comprises other Outlines that specify different narratives to be generated based on the nature of the data at hand. These constituent Outlines can be expanded to show further detail of their configurations, as depicted here with the Outline “Two Events”. This Outline has a focus—the entity that it is “about”—as provided in the “Write about” field, which has been configured to refer to an element of the Model that organizes and provides access to the data from which the narrative will be generated. The Outline also specifies a test, which is a Boolean value supplied by a Derivation, that is used to determine whether the Outline is applicable to the data at hand. 
     This figure also depicts some general attributes of the interface and interaction model. The navigation bar at the very top shows that the system is currently in “Authoring” (as opposed to “Publishing”) mode, since the configuration is still under development. The navigation bar just below that shows the different kinds of information that must be supplied in a configuration as described earlier, e.g., Outlines, Content Blocks, Angles, etc., which enable the user (editorial expert) to select which aspect of the configuration to inspect and/or refine. 
       FIG.  2    depicts a specific story Outline (“Default”) that has been selected for inspection and/or further development, and its constituent Content Blocks. These Content Blocks in turn may be selected and edited, or new Content Blocks may be added to this Outline. 
       FIG.  3    depicts this same Outline in an “expanded” view, in which all of its constituent Content Blocks, associated Angles, etc., may be inspected and/or selected for further development in relation to the Outline as a whole. The indentation structure of this view reflects the hierarchical structure of the Outline. 
       FIG.  4    depicts the types of Models (structured data elements) available for utilization in configuring and ultimately generating a story. The user may also create new Model types, with specified components as needed or convenient to further refine the configuration under development. In actual story generation, these Models must be supplied with actual data corresponding to their components, in a mapping and data transfer process that lies outside the scope of this invention. 
       FIG.  5    depicts a Derivation having been selected for inspection and/or refinement. During configuration, the Derivation is given a name, a type of result (in this case Boolean), the types of data to which it is applied, the components of the Model to which it is applied, and then finally a description of how it is to be computed in terms of a special-purpose specification language. 
       FIGS.  6  through  8    illustrate the kinds of help available to users as they utilize the interface to develop an appropriate configuration. As depicted in  FIG.  6   , the operations provided by this specification language are available to the user through a searchable reference tool. Additionally, as a user enters operation names, the available operations to which he or she might be referring are also suggested on the basis of what has been entered so far. 
     As depicted in  FIG.  7   , the interface also supplies suggestions about the specific entities (e.g., Model components, Derivations, Angles, etc.) in the current configuration to which a user might be referring as he or she enters the names of these specific entities. As depicted in  FIG.  8   , when the user supplies a name that doesn&#39;t refer to an existing entity in the configuration, an error message is immediately displayed. 
     As a user is developing the configuration of a Derivation, he or she may test it using the “Evaluate” button displayed. As depicted in  FIG.  9   , the result of this evaluation is provided along with a trace of how each part of the Derivation&#39;s specification performed. (This capacity to provide immediate feedback on the operation of partial or complete configurations is a critical aspect of the system and method for configuration described here, and will be further elaborated below.) 
       FIG.  10    illustrates how the system presents Angles to the user. The current set of Angles under development is presented and available for navigation on the left. This screen shows a parent Angle (which spans an Angle family). The system prompts users to enter the applicability conditions and interestingness/importance of the Angle, and automatically displays the other configuration elements that refer to the Angle. 
       FIG.  11    shows the parent Angle of  FIG.  10    fully expanded to display all the Angles it comprises. The indentation structure displayed by the interface reflects the hierarchical structure of the Angle family in terms of shared (or, alternatively, disjoint) conditions of applicability. The conditions of applicability are expressed in terms of data accessed through the Model or of derived features. 
       FIG.  12    shows the same list, after the conditions of applicability have been tested on data determined by the user, which aids in finding errors in these conditions (those with true conditions are listed first).  FIG.  13    additionally shows the Angles with true conditions sorted by interestingness, so that the Angle in this Angle family that would best characterize the selected data is shown at the top—again enabling the user to assess, incrementally, the current configuration of the Angles in this Angle family. 
       FIG.  14    displays the Content Blocks associated with one of the parent Angles previously displayed, specifically “MarriageChildren”. These Content Blocks are associated with the individual Angles in that Angle family, which would apply depending on the conditions. The Content Blocks themselves contain other Content Blocks (which may be Content Nodes or Blueprint Sets); the user may edit the Content Blocks or add new Content Blocks if he or she believes that better or additional ways of expressing information associated with the specified Angle can be devised. The screen additionally indicates that no true Angle corresponding to this content is true given the selected data.  FIG.  15    displays another set of Content Blocks in expanded form, so that all the content that might be expressed relating to the Angle in question can be viewed in context. 
       FIG.  16    shows a Blueprint Set including a series of alternative ways of expressing the facts relevant to a given Angle in a given Content Block, notated through a combination of fixed natural language words and phrases, path names referencing the data in the Models, and Phraseblocks (which in turn render as appropriate phrases depending on conditions). The user may add new Blueprints. The system also shows how these Blueprints would render as natural language expressions given the currently selected data, in order that they can be assessed for clarity, grammaticality, etc.  FIG.  17    shows a similar Blueprint Set with errors due to incorrect data references, along with suggestions by the system as to other data in the Models that the user might incorporate instead. 
       FIG.  18    shows that in general subordinate configuration elements can be edited through modal dialog boxes as well as direct navigation to a window displaying them. This enables easy refinement of these elements in the context of their use. 
       FIG.  19    shows the editing of Phraseblocks, which generate alternate phrases depending on conditions and can be incorporated into Blueprints. In this case for example, the Phraseblock generates different phrases to express the appropriate branch of the military in which the subject served.  FIG.  20    shows the error message that would be generated if the configuration had an error in it so that it attempted to apply this Phraseblock to the wrong sort of data. 
     3. Providing Immediate Feedback During Configuration 
     As mentioned several times during the above discussion, a critical element of the method and system we have devised to support configuration is the ability to provide the user (editorial expert) with immediate feedback about the correctness (both syntactic and functional) of the configuration under development, and of the coherence and clarity of the result. This enables rapid and efficient iterative development and refinement of the configurations. 
     However to support this iterative development process, additional dataflow mechanisms must be developed beyond those required to generate stories from data on a production basis. In order to generate stories, the configurable narrative generation mechanism (or platform) must be given two inputs: One or more configurations, which determine the kinds of stories to be generated; and a flow of data about entities, events, situations, etc., which will be used as input to the configured mechanism in order to drive generation of stories about those entities, events, situations, etc., based on those data. 
     This is exactly what is required for a production workflow. For an iterative development workflow as described above, however, it does not suffice. Gaining feedback requires configuring the system, reading the data, generating the stories, and then examining the stories to see whether the configurations suffice—then changing the configurations if necessary and re-running the entire process again. Feedback on a more granular level—e.g., whether an individual Derivation or Blueprint appropriately configured—is not particularly easy in this approach. 
     In order to address this issue, the method and system for configuration that we have devised supports the relatively easy importation of sample data, and the evaluation of configuration elements on an individual basis using these sample data. This enables a much faster and more efficient configuration process from a user perspective. 
       FIG.  21    shows the initial screen seen by a user upon returning to work on a configuration in progress. This screen shows the various configuration elements that have been developed already, as well as those which are entailed by previous elements but not yet developed. Most significant in the context of this discussion is the drop-down menu in the upper right hand corner labeled “Maurine Bobbit Tusk”. This menu controls the importation of sample data (in this instance concerning a deceased individual named Maurine Bobbit).  FIG.  22    shows that the configuration tool has currently been loaded with a number of different sets of sample data. The user is free to choose whichever data set will help to check and refine the configuration best in his or her judgment.  FIG.  23    illustrates a portion of a Model with sample data loaded into it. 
       FIG.  24    shows the database query that has been written in order to import a sample data set. This query would typically be written by an engineer or with the aid of one, rather than the user (editorial expert) him or herself. 
     Finally, while some incremental testing has been illustrated in the above description,  FIGS.  25  and  26    illustrate the error messages and trace capabilities provide by the configuration tool when generating an entire story from start to end. 
     In sum, the ability to import sample data for direct use by the configuration tool itself, as described here, significantly improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the configuration process from the viewpoint of the human user developing the configurations. 
     While the present invention has been described above in relation to exemplary embodiments, various modifications may be made thereto that still fall within the invention&#39;s scope, as would be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art. Such modifications to the invention will be recognizable upon review of the teachings herein. As such, the full scope of the present invention is to be defined solely by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.