Patent ID: 7565397

Claim:
A user interface method executing on hardware, comprising the steps of: providing a network of agents, the network including a root node, a plurality of agents of a first type each downchain from the root node, a plurality of agents of a second type each downchain from at least one of the agents of the first type, and a plurality of agents of a third type each downchain from at least one of the agents of the second type; developing a set of at least one interpretation path through the network in dependence upon the content of user input, each of the paths in the set including at least one agent in the network; in dependence upon the set of interpretation paths, developing a set of alternative paths through the network, each of the alternative paths differing from all the paths in the set of interpretation paths in at least one of the agent types; and offering at least one of the alternative paths to the user for potential follow-up, wherein the steps of developing the set of at least one interpretation paths and the alternative paths comprises developing hints from all agent types immediately downchain from a given agent type and developing hints from all agents immediately upchain from a given agent type.