METHOD FOR PROVIDING A LINGUISTICALLY COMPETENT DIALOGUE WITH A COMPUTERIZED SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

Desired tasks are modeled as a plurality of database slots. Each of the slots is opportunistically fillable by a predetermined set of values in accordance with a predetermined set of user utterance recognition rules. The user utterance recognition rules include a first layer which recognizes questions and commands based upon co-occurrences of key words in a sentence, removes corresponding database slot values and generates a supplemental utterance. A second layer recognizes database word values irrespective of sentence context and fills the slot appropriately. Responsive utterances are generated in accordance with a predetermined set of condition-action rules. The condition-action rules are based on logical combinations of filled slot values and, in operation, provide a user with the desired perception of a linguistically competent dialog while at the same time eliciting further information to complete a desired task.