Improvising Linguistic Style: Social and Affective Bases of Agent Personality

Joint work with Marilyn A. Walker and Stephen J. Whittaker.
Paper

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.     PS (215K)     PS.GZ (67K)     PDF (221K)

Approach

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, 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. (Illustration of LSI program flow).

Results: sound & text

Variations on text and emotional disposition, as generated by the LSI and Affect Editor programs.
(1) Waiter: Approval-oriented, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Direct, Angry.
.AU (172K) .WAV (418K) Text
(2) Waiter: Approval-oriented, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Approval-oriented, Disgusted.
.AU (255K) .WAV (562K) Text
(3) Waiter: Direct, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Autonomy-oriented, Distraught.
.AU (262K) .WAV (587K) Text
(4) Waiter: Direct, Angry.
Laszlo: Direct, Disgusted.
.AU (252K) .WAV (565K) Text
(5) Waiter: Approval-oriented, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Direct, Annoyed.
.AU (211K) .WAV (482K) Text
(6) Waiter: Approval-oriented, Gruff.
Laszlo: Off-record, Distraught.
.AU (771K) .WAV (769K) Text

(1) Waiter: Approval-oriented, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Direct, Angry. 		    to Results
Waiter: Could I help you?
Laszlo: Take us to a table right away. I am Victor Laszlo.
Waiter: It's a pleasure.
Laszlo: Bring us two cointreaux right away.
Waiter: I'd be glad to.
(2) Waiter: Approval-oriented, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Approval-oriented, Disgusted. 		    to Results
Waiter: Could I help you?
Laszlo: Can you take us to a table? As you may know I am Victor Laszlo.
Waiter: It's a pleasure.
Laszlo: You wouldn't want to bring us two cointreaux, would you?
Waiter: I'd be glad to.
(3) Waiter: Direct, Pleasant.
Laszlo: Autonomy-oriented, Distraught. 		    to Results
Waiter: I will help you.
Laszlo: Can you take us to a table? As you may know I am Victor Laszlo
Waiter: Yes if you insist.
Laszlo: You wouldn't want to bring us two cointreaux, would you?
Waiter: If I must.
(4) Waiter: Direct, Angry.
Laszlo: Direct, Disgusted. 		    to Results
Waiter: I will help you.
Laszlo: Take us to a table right away. I am Victor Laszlo.
Waiter: Yes if you insist.
Laszlo: Bring us two cointreaux right away.
Waiter: If I must.
(5) Waiter: approval-oriented, pleasant.
Laszlo: direct, annoyed. 		    to Results
Waiter: Do you desire that I will help you?
Laszlo: I hereby order you to take us to a table. You see I am Victor Laszlo.
Waiter: I'd be glad to.
Laszlo: You must bring us two cointreaux.
Waiter: With pleasure.
(6) Waiter: approval-oriented, gruff.
Laszlo: off-record, distraught. 		    to Results
Waiter: Please, if you wouldn't mind, I will help you.
Laszlo: Did I reserve a table? It seems I am Victor Lazlo.
Waiter: No problem.
Laszlo: We do not have two cointreaux.
Waiter: No problem.
Janet Cahn
M.I.T. Media Laboratory
Cambridge, MA

Very late, very twentieth...

cahn@media.mit.edu