Human-likeness in utterance generation: Effects of variability

Abstract

There are compelling reasons to endow dialogue systems with human-like conversational abilities, which require modelling of aspects of human behaviour. This paper examines the value of using human behaviour as a target for system behaviour through a study making use of a simulation method. Two versions of system behaviour are compared: a replica of a human speaker's behaviour and a constrained version with less variability. The version based on human behaviour is rated more human-like, polite and intelligent. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.