INTRODUCING ASK, A SIMPLE KNOWLEDGEABLE SYSTEM
 
Bozenn H. Thompson F r e d e r i c k B. Thompson California Inatitnce of 
Technology Pasadena, California 91125
 
ABSTRACT
 
ASK, ~ ~ i m p l e K n o w l e d g e a b l e S y s t e m , i s a t o t a l 
system for the structuring, manipulation and communication of information. It is 
a simple system in t h e sense thaC its development concentrated on c l e a n e 
n g i n e e r i n g solutions to w h a t c o u l d be d o n e now w i t h g o o 
d r e s p o n s e t i m e s . The user interface is a limited dialect of 
English. In contrast to expert systems, in which experts build the knowledge 
base and users make u s e o f t h i s e x p e r t k n o w l e d g e , ASK i s a 
i m e d a t t h e u s e r who w i s h e s t o c r e a t e , test, modify, extend 
a n d m a k e u s e o f h i s own k n o w l e d g e b a s e . It is a s y s t e 
m for a research team, a m a n a g e m e n t or
 military staff, or a business office.
 
some h a v e t h e f o l l o w i n g n u m b e r a t t r i b u t e s : speed 
length beam >List the destinations a n d home p o r t o f each ship, ship 
destination home p o r t Ubu New York Naples Tokyo --Morn 0slo Tokyo Kittyhawk 
Naples Boston Boston -London
 
This paper is designed to give you a feel for the general performance of t h e 
ASK S y s t e m a n d overview of its operational capabilities. To Chin end, the 
movie you see will continue throughout the talk. Indeed, the talk itself is a 
commentary on t h i s b a c k g r o u n d m o v i e . The m o v i e i s bona f i 
d e and in real time, i t i s o f t h e ASK S y s t e m i n action. (Many o f t 
h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s from the movie are reproduced in the written 
paper.)
 
I. ASK AS A DATABASE SYSTEM
 
A. Examples o f ASK English
 
To i n t r o d u c e a few examples
 
you to ASK, we w i l l s t a r t o u t w i t h of queries of a simple data base
 The uninitiated user may wish
 
London London N e w York --North Scar London New York gimitz London Norfolk 
Saratoga unknown Norfolk >What c i t i e s a r e t h e home p o r t s o f s h i 
p s whose d e s t i n a t i o n i s London? Boston London New York Norfolk >Are 
t h e r e s h i p s t h a t do n o t h a v e a c a r g o ? yes >What i s t h e 
number o f New York s h i p s ? There are 2 answers: ( 1 ) New York ( d e s t i 
n a t i o n ) ships 2 ( 2 ) New York (home p o r t ) s h i p s 1 >How many s h i 
p s a r e t h e r e w i t h l n e g t h g r e a t e r t h a n 600 f e e t ? 
Spelling correction: " l n e g t h " to " l e n g t h " 4 >What ships t h a t 
carry wheat go to London or
 Alamo Oslo? ships that carry wheat London Maru Oslo Alamo >Does the Maru carry 
wheat and go co London? yes
 
concerning ships. simply to ask:
 
>How many ships are there? 7 >What is known about ships? some are in the 
following classes: Navy freighter old
 
S. The ASK Data Structures A l t h o u g h in the t e r m i n o l o g y of data 
base theory, ASK can be considered as an "entityrelation" system, ASK retains 
its information in records w h i c h are interlinked in a s e m a n t i c net. 
One reason we refer to ALE as simple is because ic uses only a few kinds of 
nodes in its s e m a n t i c
 
tanker a l l have t h e f o l l o w i n g a t t r i b u t e s : destination home 
p o r t some have t h e f o l l o w i n g a t t r i b u t e s : cargo a l l have 
t h e f o l l o w i n g number a t t r i b u t e s : age 17
 
net,
 
namely:
 
fio
 
Attributes Relations
 
and the ctbvious c o r r e s p o n d i n g arcs. We speak of this as the COAR 
structure. A~tributes are single valued, e.g., "father", "home port", " t i t l 
e " ; relations may be m u l t i p l e valued, e.g., "child"~ "cargo", "author". 
The d i f f e r e n c e between attributes and relations can be seen in the 
following p r o t o c o l . >What is the cargo and home port of the Maru? cargo 
home port wheat London >The home port of Maru is Boston. London has been 
replaced by Boston as the home port of Maru. >The cargo of Maru is coal. coal 
has been added as the cargo of Maru. >What i s the cargo and home port of the 
Maru? cargo home port wheat BosCon coal ---
 
>definition:long:paper whose number of pages e x c e e d s 49 Defined. 
>definition:long:book whose number o f p a g e s e x c e e d s 800 Defined. 
>What AI bibliography i t e m s a r e long? There are 2 answers: (1) long:paper 
whose number of pages exceeds 49 Physical Symbol Systems A General Syntactic P r 
o c e s s o r (2) long:book whose number of pages exceeds 800 Human Problem 
Solving >What long books were written in 19727 long:book whose number of pages 
exceeds 800 Human Problem Solving
 Family relationships make for a g o o d illustration of definitions; we switch 
to a small family relationship context. >What are attributes? 
individual/individual attributes : spouse >What are relations? individua 
I/individual relations : parent >What are classes? individual classes : male 
female >What are definitions? definition:mother :female parent definition: 
father :male parent definition:child:converse of parent definition:sibling:child 
of parent bur not oneself definition'cousin:child of sibling of parent >List the 
father and mother of each of Billy Smith's cousins. Billy Smith's cousins father 
mother Baby Boyd R o b e r t Boyd J i l l Boy
 
C. Extendin K and Hodifyin~ I. Definitions
 
t h e Dat~
 
To make such a system more knowledgeable, one needs to be able co add d e f i n 
i t i o n s that e m b o d y interrelationships a m o n g the basic classes, 
objects, a t t r i b u t e s and relations of the data. The simplest form of 
definition is synonym: >definition:tub:old Defined. ship
 
Although this form of definition allows one to introduce abbreviations and many 
forms of jargon, more extensive forms of definition are desirable. Here are 
three illustrations using the same "ship" file as above. In the third 
definition, note the use of quotes to create local '~ariables". 
>definition:area:length * beam Defined >List the length, beam and area of each 
tub. tub length beam area foot foot foot**2 Ubu 231.667 48 11120.016 Alamo 564.5 
84 47418. >definition:meter:39.37 * (foot / 12) Defined. >beam of the Alamo 
squared in square meters? 655.526472343 square meters >definition:longest 
"ship":"ship" whose length is the maximum length of "ship"s Defined. >What is 
the length in meters of the longest ship whose home port is Naples? 
121.920243840 meters T h e n o t i o n of w h a t is l o n g m a y be q u i t e 
different in another context, say in the context of b i b l i o g r a p h y of a 
r t i f i c i a l intelligence literature. 18
 
2. Verbs Most verbs e m b o d y k n o w l e d g e specific to the application in 
which they are used, the exceptions being the copula verbs. Therefore the only 
verbs initially known to the ASK System are "to be" and "to have". The user c a 
n add n e w v e r b s by paraphrase. >verb:ships "go" to New York:destination of 
ships is New York Defined. >verb:ships "carry" coal from London to Boston:ships 
have coal as cargo, have L o n d o n as home port and go to Boston Defined. 
>Each old ship carries what cargo to each port? old ship port cargo Ubu New York 
oil Tokyo oil Alamo London wheat coal
 
fi>What i s c a r r i e d by t h e Alamo? wheat coal >Wheat i s c a r r i e d to 
London from what p o r t s ? New York >What c i t i e s does t h e Alamo c a r r 
y wheat to? London
 
Pronouns and Ellinses
 
>Create t h e a t t r i b u t e : r a t i n g The a t t r i b u t e r a t i n g 
h a s been a d d e d . >Create i n d i v i d u a l s : s e m i n a l , e x c e l 
l e n t , f a i r and i m p o s s i b l e The f o l l o w i n g i n d i v i d u 
a l s have been added: seminal excellent fair impossible >The r a t i n g o f W 
i n o g r a d ' s 1980 p a p e r i n Cognitive Science is excellent. e x c e l l 
e n t h a s been added a s t h e r a t i n g o f W i n o g r a d ' 8 1980 p a p 
e r in C o g n i t i v e S c i e n c e >Rating o f A Framework f o r R e p r e s 
e n t i n g
 
In p r a c t i c a l s y s t e m s f o r e x p e r t s , a b b r e v i a t e d f 
o r m s of a d d r e s s i n g t h e c o m p u t e r a r e common. Thus the 
ability to h a n d l e p r o n o m i n a l and e l l i p t i c a l constructions 
are of considerable importance. A l t h o u g h t h e r e has been p r o g r e s 
s i n t h e l a s t few years in the linguistic understanding of these c o n s t 
r u c t i o n s , many d i f f i c u l t i e s r e m a i n . However, b u i l d 
i n g on t h e work t h a t ham been a c c o m p l i s h e d , many o f t h e s 
e c o n s t r u c t i o n s can be h a n d l e d by t h e ASK System. In o r d e 
r to a v o i d m i s l e a d i n g t h e u s e r when t h e c o m p u t a t i o 
n a l a l g o r i t h m does not make t h e c o r r e c t i n t e r p r e t a t 
i o n , echo i s u s e d t o i n f o r m t h e u s e r of t h e i n t e r p r e 
t a t i o n t h a t h a s been t a k e n . >Is t h e r e a s h i p whose d e s t 
i n a t i o n i s unknown? yes >What is it? What is it [ship whose destination 
is ..knov.] ? Saratoga >Is its cargo wheat or c o a l ? I s i t s [ s h i p 
whose d e s t i n a t i o n i s unknown] cargo wheat or c o a l ? wheat no coal 
yes >Does t h e A l a m o ' s l e n g t h exceed t h a t of t h e Ubu? yes >What 
about t h e N o r t h e r n S t a r ? [the Northern Star?] does t h e A l a m o 
' s l e n g t h exceed t h a t of t h e Northern Star? no >Is i t s cargo wheat? 
Is its [Northern Star] cargo wheat? no >Is it that of the Ubu? Is i t [Norther, 
Star cargo] that [cargo] of the Obu? yes >Wheat is carried by how many ships? 2 
>Coal and oil? c o a l and o i l i s c a r r i e d by how many ship*? coal I oil 
2 >by the Ubu? c o a l and o i l i s c a r r i e d by t h e Ubu? coal no oil 
yes
 
Knowledge i s i m p o s s i b l e .
 i m p o s s i b l e h a s been added as t h e r a t i n g o f A remework f o r 
R e p r e s e n t i n g Knowledge. >Scripts, P l a n s , Goals and U n d e r s t 
a n d i n g ' s rating is se~.nal. s e m i n a l h a s been added a s t h e r a 
t i n g o f S c r i p t s , P l a n s , Goals and U n d e r s t a n d i n g . 
>The r a t i n g o f M i n s k y ' s paper i n The P s y c h o l o g y of 
Computer V i s i o n is seminal. i m p o s s i b l e has been r e p l a c e d by 
s e m i n a l as t h e r a t i n g o f M i n s k y ' s p a p e r i n The P s y c 
h o l o g y o f Computer V i s i o n . > L i s t t h e a u t h o r of e a c h 
paper t h a t h a s a r a t i n g o f e i t h e r s e m i n a l or e x c e l l e 
n t .
 
paper S c r i p t s , Plans, Goals and Understanding R. C. Schauk
 A Framework f o r R e p r e s e n t i n g Knowledge M. Minsky What Does I t Mean 
to U n d e r s t a n d N a t u r a l Language To Winograd > r e l a t i o n : 
keyword The r e l a t i o n keyword h a s been added. >individuals:context, 
natural language, knowledge r e p r e s e n t a t i o n The f o l l o w i n g i 
n d i v i d u a l s have been added: c o n t e x t n a t u r a l l a n g u a g e 
knowledge representation >Context and knowledge r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a r 
e k e ~ o r d a of S c r i p t s , P l a n s , Goals and U n d e r s t a n d i n 
g and A Framework f o r R e p r e s e n t i n g Knowledge. c o n t e x t 
knowledge r e p r e s e n t a t i o n have been added as keywords o f S c r i p 
t s , P l a n s , Goals and U n d e r s t a n d i n g . c o n t e x t knowledge 
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n have been added as keywords o f A Framework f o r R 
e p r e s e n t i n g Knowledge. > N a t u r a l l a n g u a g e i s a keyword 
of S c r i p t s , P l a n s , Goals and U n d e r s t a n d i n g . n a t u r a 
l l a n g u a g e h a s been added a s keyword of Scripts, Plans, Goals and 
Understanding. >definition:about "booka'*:converse of keyword of "books" 
Defined. >What AI Sibliosraphy items are about knowledge r e p r e s e n t a t i 
o n ? S c r i p t s , P l a n s , Goals and U n d e r s t a n d i n g A 
Framework f o r R e p r e s e n t i n g Knowledge D. Inheritanc~
 
4. E x t e n d i n 2 th_...eeVocabular 7 an...~dDa~a Bas~ New o b j e c t s , c 
l a s s e s , a t t r i b u t e s and r e l a t i o n s may be a d d e d a t w i 
l l . T h i s w i l l be i l l u s t r a t e d using the AI Bibliography. 19 
Classes, as well as objects, may be t h e a r g u m e n t s or v a l u e s o f a 
t t r i b u t e s and r e l a t i o n s . T h i s r a i s e s t h e q u e s t i 
o n of i n h e r i t a n c e of properties and attributes. The a n s w e r is to 
be
 
fifound in the following protocol, using attribute of color; inheritance for 
relations h a n d l e d i n s i m i l a r ways. >class: r a c i n g sloop, 
sports b o a t , Norwegian The following classes have been added: racing sloop 
sports boat Norwegian >attribute: color The a t t r i b u t e c o l o r h a s 
been a d d e d . >individuals: white, blue, b l a c k , g r a y The following i 
n d i v i d u a l s have b e e n added: white blue black gray >Saratoga is a 
racing sloop. S a r a t o g a has b e e n added to r a c i n g s l o o p . 
>Racing s l o o p s a r e s p o r t s b o a t s . r a c i n g s l o o p s have b 
e e n added to s p o r t s boats. >Alamo is industrial and Norwegian. Alamo has 
b e e n added to i n d u s t r i a l Norwegian. >The c o l o r o f s p o r t s b 
o a t s i s w h i t e . w h i t e h a s b e e n added a s c o l o r o f s p o r 
t s boats  >Maru's color is gray. g r a y has b e e n added a s c o l o r o f 
Maru. >Black i s t h e c o l o r of i n d u s t r i a l . b l a c k has b e e n 
added as t h e c o l o r o f industrial. >Blue is the color of Norwegian. b l u 
e h a s b e e n added a s t h e color of Norwegian. >What i s the color of each 
s h i p ? There are 3 answers: (t) ship color Maru gray Saratoga white (2) Alamo 
as industrial ship color Alamo black (3) Alamo as Norwegian ship color Alamo 
blue
 
the is
 
There are 2 answers: ( i ) T h e r e a r e no p o r t s ( 2 ) T h e r e a r e no 
U.S. d e s t i n a t i o n s o f Maru. > I s some E u r o p e a n p o r t a p o 
r t o f Maru? The f o l l o w i n g word i s n o t i n t h e v o c a b u l a r y 
: portof Correction: Is some European port a port of Maru? There is no port. 
>London is Alamo's port. London h a s b e e n added a s t h e p o r t o f Alamo. 
> I s som E u r o p e a n p o r t a p r o t o f Maru? Spelling corrections: 
"son" to "some" "prot" tO " p o r t " T h e r e i s no p o r t o f Maru. >New 
York i s M a r u ' s p o r t . New York h a s b e e n added a s p o r t o f 
Maru. > I s some E u r o p e a n p o r t a p o r t o f Maru. I s some E u r o p 
e a n p o r t a p o r t o f Maru? no
 
II. INTEGRATION
 
OF MULTIPLE OBJECT TYPES
 
A. Extension of COAR ~o Multiple Object Types So far we have i l l u s t r a t e 
d ASK using only two types of objects: capabilities
 
individuals, e.g., "John Jones", "Maru" numbers, e.g., "34.6 feet", "length of 
Maru", "number of ships". ASK has been designed, however, to facilitate many 
kinds of objects. This is a capability orthogonal to the simple COAR s t r u c t 
u r e in that for any types of objects there m a y be c o r r e s p o n d i n g 
classes, attributes and relations.
 
B. An Examvle:
 
E. DiaKnostics Our objectives in the design respond to the experienced user: o o 
of ASK are to
 
with the responses s/he desires in at l e a s t 90% o f t h e c a s e s ; w i t 
h a r e s p o n s e that includes what s/he desires, but perhaps additional 
information also, in 90% of t h e remaining cases; with a response, although oot 
the desired one, but one which clearly indicates the system's interpretation of 
the request in the remaining cases.
 
We will illustrate this m u l t i p l e object type capability with the 
additional object type: text. Once this new object type was added (together with 
p r o c e d u r e s t o m a n i p u l a t e texts, i.e., a "word processor") 
then text classes, individual/text and text/individual a t t r i b u t e s and r 
e l a t i o n s w e r e immediately available. It was a small task to add an e l 
e c t r o n i c mail s y s t e m to ASK; all that w a s required was an a d d i 
t i o n to the a u t h o r i z a t i o n procedure that assigned to each newly 
authorized person a new text class as his/her mail box. >Create the t e x t / t 
e x t relation:comment The t e x t / t e x t r e l a t i o n co-~.ent has been 
added. >Create a file: budget correspondence The text class budget 
correspondence has been added. >File the Budget Proposal in budget 
correspondence. Budget Proposal has been added to the text class budget 
correspondence. >Who have I received mail from? J o h n Smith Peter Jackson 20
 
This third objective calls for good diagnostics. The diagnostic capabilities of 
ASK are illustrated in the following protocol. >attribute:port The a t t r i b u 
t e p o r t has been added. >What a r e t h e p o r t s and U.S. d e s t i n a t 
i o n s t h e Maru?
 
of
 
fi> D i s p l a y my m a i l f r o m J o h n S m i t h . F r e d , Your B u d g 
e t P r o p o s a l l o o k s good t o me. S u g g e s t you s u b m i t i t a s 
i s . John > F i l e i t i n my b u d g e t c o r r e s p o n d e n c e f i l e 
. F i l e i t [my m a i l f r o m J o h n S m i t h ] i n my budget 
correspondence file. my m a i l f r o m J o h n S m i t h h a s b e e n a d d e 
d co the text class budget correspondence. >amm-va i t f r o m my m a i l b o x 
. Bemove i c [my m a i l f r o m J o h n S m i t h ] f r o m my m a i l box. my 
m a i l f r o m J o h n S m i t h h a s b e e n r e m o v e d from your mail. > 
C r e a t e a b u d g e t c o r r e s p o n d e n c e named Budget Plans Please 
e n t e r t e x t : S t a f f l e v e l b u d g e t m e e t i n g on Wed. a t 3 
i n Tom's o f f i c e . P l e a s e s e n d me y o u r c o m m e n t s b e f o r 
e t h e m e e t i n g ; f i l e t h e m a s "commenCe on B u d g e t P l a n e " 
. \ Budget Plane class budget >Mail Budget Budget plane manager. h a s b e e n a 
d d e d Co t h e t e x t correspondence. Plans to each section manager. h a s b 
e e n s e n t to e a c h s e c t i o n
 
Ill. MORE GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE ASK SYSTEM
 
A. R e s v o n s e Times The movie, which accompanied the oral presentation of 
this paper, demonstrated that the response rime, i.e., the time between 
completion of t h e t y p i n g of t h e i n p u t by t h e u s e r Co t h e 
appearance of t h e r e s p o n s e on t h e t e r m i n a l , is very good. But 
the data bases used in the illustrations have been small, Coy d a t a b a s e s 
. The f o l l o w i n g t a b l e g i v e s a v e r a g e r e s p o n s e t i m 
e s for a few cases using larger data bases. The query used for this 
illustration is: >What arm t h e d e s t i n a t i o n s of tankers?
 
The r e s p o u s e t i m e i s r a t h e r i n s e n s t i t i v e to the Coral 
number of individuals, classes, attributes and relations in the data base, 
depending primarily on the size of the relation (destination) and i t s a r g u 
m e n t ( C a n k e r s ) . Suppose t h a t t h e r e a r e m t a n k e r s i n 
t h e d a t a b a s e and t h a t n individuals have destinations, i.e., the 
size of the destination relation i s n. T h e t a b l e g i v e s time in 
seconds.
 
no. of tankers > D i s p l a y t h e commence on B u d g e t P l a n s by e a c 
h section manager. D i s p l a y i n g commence on B u d g e t P l a n s by e a 
c h section manager: J o h n Dobbs: D ( i s p l a y ) , S(kip), o r Q(uit):
 
2 2 a 9
 
dastinscions
 
I I I I
 
C. A d d i n z New O b i e c t T y ~ e s A l t h o u g h t h e ASK S y s t e m h 
a s b e e n d e s i g n e d t o allow the addition o f new o b j e c t t y p e s 
, t h i s c a n be d o n e o n l y by a n a p p l i c a t i o n programmer. The 
major obstacle is the necessity to provide a procedure to initialize instances 
of the new object type and procedures that carry out their intrinsic 
manipulation. However, we expect the addition of new object types to be a c o m 
m o n occurrence in the applications of the ASK System. In any potential 
applicaion areas, using groups have accumulations of data already structured in 
specific ways and families of procedures that they have developed to manipulate 
these structures. In ASK, they can identify these data structures as a new 
object type, design simple syucax for them to invoke their procedures, and thus 
embed their familar objects and manipulations within the ASK English dialect and 
within the same context as other associated aspects of their tasks. The class, 
attributed and relation constructions become immediately available.
 
B e s p o n e e Time i n S e c o n d s f o r : >What a r e t h e d e s t i n a t 
i o n s of tankers?
 
B. The C q n c e v t o f A Use ~ C o n t e x t an_...dd
 
the Basing Ooeration
 In the t e r m i n o l o g y of ASK, a user "Context" is a knowledge base 
together with the vocabulary and definitions that S o with it. A given user will 
usually have several Contexts for v a r i o u s purposes, some of which may be 
the small "Ships" Context, a (truncated) bibliography of Artificial Intelligence 
literature and an a d m i n i s t r a t i v e Context concerning budget matters. 
When one initiates a session with the ASK System, one is initially in the 
Command Context: >Welcome to ASK Please identify yourself. >Fred >Pass word: You 
have mail. Fred is in COMMAND, proceed. At this point, you can list the 
Directory of Contexts available to you, create or delete Contexts, authorize 
others to use Contexts which you have created, and enter any of the Contexts in 
21
 
fi>Directory context BASE Ships AI Bibliography Family Management Matters
 
creator MASTER Fred Fred Fred Fred
 
enter no yes yes yes yes
 
b~s~ yes yes yes yes yes
 
>enter Management Matters You are in Management Matters, proceed. >Who have I 
received mail from? Peter Jackson John Dobbs A new C o n t e x t is c r e a t e 
d by basing it on an already existing one. Consider a u s e r who h a s b e e n 
a u t h o r i z e d f o r b a s i n g on t h e AI B i b l i o g r a p h y 
Context illustrated a b o v e and who w a n t s t o b u i l d a w i d e r b i b 
l i o g r a p h y C o n t e x t ( a d d i n g new i n f o r m a t i o n 
--vocabulary, data and definitions), however, without disturbing the old one. To 
do s o , a l l s / h e n e e d s t o do i s s e l e c t a new n a m e , s a y CS 
B i b l i o g r a p h y , and t y p e : >exit You a r e >Base CS The new 
created
 
>individual: E x p e r i e n c e w i t h ROBOT, L. H a r r i s The f o l l o w i 
n g i n d i v i d u a l s have been added: E x p e r i e n c e w i t h ROBOT L. 
H a r r i s >The a u t h o r o f E x p e r i e n c e w i t h ROBOT i s L. 
Harris. L. H a r r i s h a s b e e n a d d e d a s a u t h o r o f E x p e r i e 
n c e w i t h ROBOT. >Keyword o f E x p e r i e n c e w i t h ROBOT i s d a t a 
b a s e . database has been added as keyword of E x p e r i e n c e with ROBOT. 
>Who wrote what about databases? author D. L. W a l t z N a t u r a l L a n g u 
a g e A c c e s s t o a Large Data Base L. H a r r i s E x p e r i e n c e w i t 
h ROBOT > e x i t t o CB B i b l i o g r a p h y , You a r e i n CS B i b l i o 
g r a p h y , proceed. >Who w r o t e w h a t a b o u t d a t a b a s e s ? 
author D. L. W a l t z N a t u r a l L a n g u a g e A c c e s s t o a Large 
Data Base C. J. D a t e An I n t r o d u c t i o n to Database Systems L. H a r 
r i s E x p e r i e n c e w i t h ROBOT Several C o n t e x t s can be based on 
a g i v e n one, and one C o n t e x t can be b a s e d on several, thus a 
hierarchical structure of Contexts can be realized. All Contexts are directly or 
indirectly based upon the BASE Context, w h i c h c o n t a i n s the f u n c t 
i o n words and g r a m m a r of the ASK d i a l e c t of English, the 
mathematical and statistical capabilities, and the word processor.
 
i n COMMAND, p r o c e e d . Bibliography on AI Bibliography context CS 
Bibliography has been b a s e d on AI B i b l i o g r a p h y basing action is t 
h i s new C o n t e x t : a ne w
 
The r e s u l t of this Context. Upon e n t e r i n g
 
> E n t e r CS B i b l i o g r a p h y You a r e in CS Bibliography, one c a n 
make a d d i t i o n s :
 
proceed. C. T~anspo~tabilitv It is easy and fast to apply ASK to a n e w domain, 
given that a data base for this new domain is a v a i l a b l e in m a c h i n e 
r e a d a b l e form. The vehicle is t h e ASK dialogue-driven Bulk Data Input 
capability, w h i c h can be called upon to build an existing database into 
one's Context. The result not only i n t e g r a t e s this n e w data w i t h 
that already in the C o n t e x t and under the ASK d i a l e c t of English, 
but in m a n y c i r c u m s t a n c e s w i l l make the use of this data m o r 
e r e s p o n s i v e to users"
 
> i n d i v i d u a l s :An I n t r o d u c t i o n to Database S y s t e m s , 
C. J . D a t e The f o l l o w i n g i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e b e e n a d d 
e d : An I n t r o d u c t i o n to D a t a b a s e S y s t e m s C. J . D a t e 
>The a u t h o r o f An I n t r o d u c t i o n to Database S y s t e m s i s C. 
J . D a t e . C. J . D a t e h a s been added a s a u t h o r of An Introduction 
to Database Systems. >Keyword o f An I n t r o d u c t i o n t o D a t a b a s e 
Systems is database. d a t a b a s e h a s been a d d e d a s k e y w o r d o f 
An Introduction to Database Systems. >Who w r o t e w h a t a b o u t d a t a b 
a s e s ? author D. L. W a l t z N a t u r a l L a n g u a g e A c c e s s t o a 
L a r g e D a t a Base C. J. D a t e An I n t r o d u c t i o n to D a t a b a s 
e Systems These additions to the CS B i b l i o g r a p h y would not, of c o u 
r s e , e f f e c t She AI B i b l i o g r a p h y Context. However, a d d i t i 
o n s and m o d i f i c a t i o n s that are subsequently made in the AI 
Bibliography Context would automatically be reflected in the CS Bibliography. 
>exit You are in COMMAND, proceed. >Enter AI Bibliography You are in AI 
Bibliography, proceed. 22
 
needs.
 The Bulk Data Input D i a l o g u e p r o m p t s the user for n e c e s s a r y 
i n f o r m a t i o n to (i) e s t a b l i s h t h e physical structure of the d 
a t a b a s e to be included, (2) add necessary classes and attributes as needed 
for the new data entries. The user also indicates, using E n g l i s h c o n s t 
r u c t i o n s , the i n f o r m a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s a m o 
n g the fields in the p h y s i c a l records of the d a t a b a s e file that 
s/he wishes carried over to the ASK Context.
 
IV. DIALOGUES IN ASK
 
Some have raised the question whether natural language is always the most 
desirable medium for a user to c o m m u n i c a t e w i t h the computer. 
Expert systems, for example, have tended to use computer guided dialogues. One 
simple form such a dialogue
 
fimight take is illustrated by t h e f o l l o w i n s in w h i c h a new e n t 
r y i s a d d e d t o t h e AI B i b l i o g r a p h y :
 >New b i b l i o g r a p h y i t e m >Add to what b i b l i o g r a p h y ? AI B 
i b l i o g r a p h y >Title: Natural Language Processing >Author: Harry Tennant 
>Keyword: n a t u r a l l a n g u a g e >Keyword: s y n t a x p r o c e s s i n 
g >Keyword: s p e e c h a c t s >Keyword: Natural Language Processing has been 
added t o AI B i b l i o g r a p h y . >Title: The "new b i b l i o g r a p h y 
item" dialogue i8 completed. >What A I B i b l i o g r a p h y items were 
written by Harry Tennant? E x p e r i e n c e with the Evaluation of Natural 
Language Question Answerers Natural Language Processing
 
necessary, respond with a diagnostic, (2) f i l l in other fields with data 
developed from the knowledge base, (3) extend the knowledge base, adding to the 
vocabulary and adding or changing the data itself, (4) file the completed form 
in p r e s c r i b e d f i l e s o r i n t h o s e i n d i c a t e d by t h e u 
s e r and a l s o m a i l it t o a s p e c i f i e d d i s t r i b u t i o n 
list through the electronic mail subsystem. Since the Form p r o c e s s i n g c 
a n c h e c k c o n s i s t e n c y and m o d i f y the knowledge base, Forms 
can be used to facilitate data input. S i n c e Form p r o c e s s i n g c a n 
fill f i e l d s in t h e Form, the forms c a p a b i l i t y includes the 
functions of a report generator. L e t t e r s and memos c a n be written a s s 
p e c i a l c a s e s of Form filling, automatically adding dates, addresses, 
etc. and filing and dispatching the result. It must be easy and natural to add 
new Forms, if they are to be a convenient tool. That is the function of the 
Forms Designing Dialogue. Much like the Bulk Data Input Dialogue, the Forms 
Designing Dialogue holds a dialogue with the the user through which s/he can 
specify the fields of the Form itself and the processing of the above k i n d s 
t o be a u t o m a t i c a l l y accomplished at the time the Form is filled in. 
Here is a simple example of a from that was designed using the Forms Designing 
Dialogue. >What i s t h e bona p o r t and c o ~ a n d e r old ship? There are 2 
answers: (i) The~e is no c o - ~ . n d e r . of each
 
Other alternative media for user/system communication are menu boards, selection 
arrays and q u e r y by e x a m p l e . Many o t h e r c r y p t i c w a y s to 
communicate user needs to a knowledgeable system c a n be t h o u g h t o f ; o 
f t e n t h e m o s t u s e f u l m e a n s will be highly specific to the 
particular application. For e x a m p l e , i n p o s i t i o n i n g c a r g o 
i n t h e h o l d o f a s h i p , o n e w o u l d l i k e t o be a b l e t o 
display the particular cargo space, showing its current cargo, and call for and 
move into place o t h e r i t e m s t h a t a r e to be i n c l u d e d . In the 
past, enabling the system to respond more intelligently to the user's needs 
required the provision of elaborate programs since the u s e r ' s t a s k s m a 
y be q u i t e i n v o l v e d , w i t h c o m p l e x decision structures. The 
introduction of terse, effective communication has incurred lout delays and thus 
the changing needs of a user had little c h a n c e o f b e i n g m e t . I n t 
h e ASK S y s t e m , t h e u s e r s themselves can provide this knowledge. 
They c a n i n s t r u c t t h e system on how to e l i c i t the necessary i n 
f o r m a t i o n and how to c o m p l e t e t h e r e q u i r e d t a s k . 
This ASK capability is quite facile, opening the way f o r i t s u b i q u i t o 
u s use in extending the knowledgeable responsiveness of the computer to user's 
immediate needs. ASK i n c l u d e s two s y s t e m guided dialogues, similar 
to the Bulk Data Input d i a l o g u e by w h i c h u s e r s c a n i n s t r u 
c t t h e S y s t e m on how to be more r e s p o n s i v e t o t h e i r n e e 
d s .
 A. Forms Desi~nin2 Dialogue The Form is an efficient means of communication with 
which we are all familiar. A number of computer systems include a Forms package. 
For most of these, however, filling in a Form results only in a document; the 
Form does not constitute a medium for interacting with the knowledge base or 
controllin K the actions of the system. The ASK Forms capability enlarges the 
roles and ways in which Forms can be used as a m e d i u m for user interaction. 
As the user fills in the fields of a Form, the System can make use of the 
information being supplied to (1) check its consistency with the data already in 
the k n o w l e d g e base and, if
 
old ship hone port Ubu Naples Alamo London >Who i s J o h n S m i t h ? The f o 
l l o w i n s w o r d s a r e n o t i n t h e v o c a b u l a r y : John Smith > 
I n v e n t o r y o f wheat and c o r n o i l ? w h e a t and c o r n o i l i n 
v e n t o r y wheat 86.7 corn oil 123~00.
 Note that the home port of the Alamo is London and that it does not have a 
commander, further that John Smith is not known to the System. >Fill s h i p p i 
n g (For the purposes of the published paper, in contrast to the film shown at 
the presentation of the paper, only the initial and final copies of the form are 
given, under~ines indicate fields filled in by the "user", the o t h e r f i e l 
d s automatically being filled by the System.) (before) Shipping Form ship: 
port: quantity item $ price $ total
 
commander: 23
 
fi(after) S h i p p i n g Form ship: port: A;amQ London item whvac corn oi~ J@hn 
SmiC~ price $ 35.75 $ 2.50 total $ 107.25 $1250.00
 
quantity ! 500 colmander:
 
natural language programming capabiltty. We hasten to add that it is not a 
general purpose program environment. It is for "ultra-high" level programming, 
gaining its programming efficiency t h r o u g h t h e a s s u m p t i o n o f 
an e x t e n s i v e v o c a b u l a r y and knowledge base on which it can 
draw. The illustrative d i a l o g u e a b o v e , w h i c h a d d s ' a new i t 
e m to a bibliography, is an example of a simple d i a l o g u e d e s i g n e d 
u s i n g DDD.
 
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CURRENT STATUS Shipping List for Alamo has been filed in 
Shipping Invoice File. S h i p p i n g L i s t for Alamo h a s b e e n m a i l e 
d to J o n e s . mail t o : Fill shipping has been completed. > L i s t t h e 
home p o r t and co-w,a n d e r o f e a c h old ship. old ship home p o r t 
commander Ubu Naples -Alamo London John Smith >Inventory of wheat and corn oil? 
w h e a t and c o r n o i l i n v e n t o r y wheat 83.7 c o r n oil 122900. 
>What is in the Shipping Invoice File? Shipping List for Alamo
 
The three System guided dialogues, Bulk Data Input, Dialogue Designing Dialogue 
and Forms D e s i g n i n g D i a l o g u e , are f r o m the d o c t o r a l 
dissertation of Tai-Ping Ho. The aspects of ASK c o n c e r n i n g b a s i n g 
o n e C o n t e x t on a n o t h e r a r e f r o m the doctoral dissertation o f 
K w a n 8 - I Yu. The methods for handling anaphora, fragments and correction of 
inputs are from the doctoral dissertation of David Trawick. ASK is implemented 
on the Hewlett Packard HP9836 desktop computer. To handle Contexts of r e a s o 
n a b l e s i z e , one n e e d s a b a r d d i s k . An HP9836 with an HP9725 
disk was used in the illustrations in this paper. Our work is supported by the 
Hewlett Packard Corporation, Desktop Computer Division.
 
B. DialoKue Desi~nin~ Dialogue In the day-by-day use of an interactive system, 
users are very often involved in repetitive tasks. They c o u l d be r e l i e v 
e d o f much o f t h e d r u d g e r y o f such tasks if the system were more 
knowledgeable. Such a knowledgeable system, as it goes about a t a s k f o r t h 
e u s e r , may need a d d i t i o n a l information from the user. What 
information it needs aCa particular point may depend on earlier user inputs and 
the current state of the database. The user must provide the system with 
knowledge of a particular cask; more precisely s/he must program this knowledge 
into t h e system. The result of this programming will be a system guided 
dialogue which the user can subsequently initiate and which will then elicit the 
necessary inputs. Using these inputs in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h the 
knowledge already available, particularly the data base, the system completes 
the task. It is this system-guided dialogue chat the user needs to be able to d 
e s i g n . In the ASK System, there is a special dialogue w h i c h can be used 
co d e s i g n s y s t e m g u i d e d dialogues Co accomplish particular casks. 
We call this the Dialogue Designing Dialogue (DDD). Using DDD, the user becomes 
a computer-aided designer. Since DDD, in conducting its dialogue with the user, 
only requires simple responses or responses phrased in ASK English, the user 
need have little programming skill or experience. Using DDD, the user alone can 
replace a tedious, repetitive cask with an efficient system guided dialogue, all 
in a natural language environment. The ASK Dialogue Designing Dialogue 
constitutes a high level, 24
 