Question

a. Write a Winograd schema and the challenge question. Also give the correct answer. (See the Special Interest Box "Victory in the Turing Test?" earlier in this chapter.) b. Now change one word in your sentence from Exercise 1 a so that the correct answer is different.

Short answer

a) "The suitcase was too small." b) "The trophy was too large."

Step-by-step solution

Understand the Winograd Schema

A Winograd Schema is a pair of sentences that involve a slight ambiguity in pronoun reference, where the meaning changes by altering one or two words in the sentence. The challenge is to determine what the pronoun refers to based on contextual cues.

Formulate the Winograd Schema Sentence

Create a sentence for the schema. Example: "The trophy didn't fit in the brown suitcase because it was too small." This sentence means that the suitcase was too small.

Create the Challenge Question

Ask the question that is designed to determine pronoun reference. For the sentence in Step 2, the question is: "What was too small?" The context suggests the answer is "the suitcase."

Identify the Correct Answer

In the Winograd Schema sentence created in Step 2, the correct answer to the challenge question is that "the suitcase was too small."

Modify the Sentence to Change the Answer

Change one word that affects the answer to the challenge question. Example: "The trophy didn't fit in the brown suitcase because it was too large." In this case, the pronoun "it" now refers to "the trophy."

Determine the New Correct Answer

With the new sentence, the challenge question remains the same: "What was too large?" Now, the context suggests that "the trophy" is the correct answer.

Key concepts

Pronoun Disambiguation

The concept of pronoun disambiguation revolves around clarifying which noun a pronoun in a sentence is referring to. This is particularly challenging in sentences where multiple nouns might be referred to by the pronoun. Pronoun disambiguation is crucial in comprehending texts clearly, as it influences the reader's or listener's understanding of the sentence.

Consider the sentence, "The trophy didn't fit in the brown suitcase because it was too small." The pronoun "it" can refer to either "the trophy" or "the suitcase." However, understanding the pronoun's reference depends on the context and meaning intended by the sentence.

• "It was too small" suggests that the reason the trophy didn't fit is due to the suitcase's size. Here, "it" refers to "the suitcase."
• Contextual cues are essential as they guide which noun the pronoun refers to, ensuring proper understanding.

Pronoun disambiguation helps machines and humans interpret sentences correctly, avoiding confusion and preserving clarity in communication.

Contextual Cues

Contextual cues are bits of information within a written or spoken context that help clarify the meaning of phrases, words, or sentences. These cues are particularly essential in resolving ambiguities in language, especially when dealing with pronouns.

For example, in the Winograd Schema, resolving the ambiguity around a pronoun heavily relies on the context provided by the sentence: "The trophy didn't fit in the brown suitcase because it was too small."

• The cue "it was too small" provides the critical context, which points to "the suitcase."
• Altering "small" to "large" shifts the contextual interpretation, making "it" refer to "the trophy."

Contextual cues include any detail in the sentence that helps infer meaning, often identified through words and phrases that describe size, location, function, or other relationships among nouns. Recognizing these cues is vital for nuanced understanding in both human communication and computerized language processing.

Turing Test

The Turing Test is designed to assess a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Devised by Alan Turing, it challenges whether a computer can engage in a conversation with a human without being detected as non-human.

One of the complex challenges in passing the Turing Test is pronoun disambiguation. Machines must understand and utilize contextual cues accurately to resolve ambiguities within conversations, just like a human would.

• For instance, handling complex sentences like those in the Winograd Schema is crucial.
• This requires advanced processing of language nuances and contextual awareness.

The Turing Test remains a benchmark in evaluating AI capabilities, signifying a machine's progress in mimicking human-like understanding and interaction.

Natural Language Processing

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a fascinating field within computer science dealing with the interaction between computers and humans through natural language. This involves designing computational models that can understand, interpret, and generate human language adequately.

Key to NLP is the capability of machines to resolve pronoun ambiguities using contextual cues, similar to the Winograd Schema challenges.

• It involves parsing sentences to understand structure and meaning.
• Language models in NLP, like those used in virtual assistants, use vast datasets to learn and predict pronoun-noun relationships.

With advancements in NLP, computers are increasingly capable of interpreting complex texts, identifying correct pronoun references, and engaging in natural conversations, enhancing user experiences in various applications.