Improvising Linguistic Style: Social and Affective Bases of Agent Personality

The Improvisation of Linguistic Style: Social and Affective Bases for Agent Personality. Marilyn A. Walker, Janet Cahn and Stephen J. Whittaker. Proceedings of the ACM Agents '97 Conference. February, 1997. 10-17.     PDF (221K)

The original script, from Casablanca:

Laszlo and Ilsa enter the cafe.
Waiter: Yes, Monsieur?
Laszlo: I reserved a table. Victor Laszlo.
Waiter: Yes, Monsieur Laszlo, right this way.

Laszlo and Ilsa go to the table.
Laszlo: Two cointreaux, please.
Waiter: Yes, Monsieur.

For improvisation based on the original script, the script is represented as a plan, with both speech acts and domain plan representatons. Each character is given a strategy based on social variables (power differences, social distance) and an emotional disposition. The strategy is reflected in the text; the emotional disposition in the speech acoustics. See the paper for more detail.