Using Natural Language Interfaces

A goal of human factors research with computer systems is to develop human-computer communication modes that are both error tolerant and easily learned. Since people already have extensive communication skills through their own native or natural language (e.g. English, French, Japanese, etc.) many believe that natural language interfaces (NLIs) can provide the most useful and efficient way for people to interact with computers. Although some authors express a belief that computers will never be able to understand natural language (e.g. Winograd & Flores, 1986), others feel that natural language processing technology needs only to advance sufficiently to make general purpose NLIs possible. Indeed, there have been several attempts to produce commercial systems. The goal for most natural language systems is to provide an interface that minimizes the training required for users. To most, this means a system that uses the words and syntax of a natural language such as English. There is, however, some disagreement as to the amount of " understanding " or flexibility required in the system. Systems have been proposed that permit users to construct English sentences by selecting words from menus (Tennant et al. 1983). However, Woods (1977) rejects the idea that a system using English words in an artificial format should be considered a natural language system, and assumes that the system should have an awareness of discourse rules that make it possible to omit easily inferred details. In further contrast, Perlman (1984) suggests that " naturalness " be determined by the context of the current application and urges the design of restricted " natural artificial " languages. Philosophical issues about the plausibility of computers understanding and generating natural language aside, it was widely believed