{
  "patent_number": "US 11645473",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How AI Predicts Who Will Speak Next in a Conversation",
  "original_title": "End-of-turn detection in spoken dialogues",
  "summary": "IBM's patent describes a system that uses neural networks to analyze speech patterns and intentions to predict which person will talk next in a conversation.",
  "what_it_does": "This system uses a neural network to monitor a conversation between two people and figure out who is likely to speak next. It does this by simultaneously analyzing two things: the speaker's 'intention' (like whether they are asking a question or making a statement) and the 'turn type' (like whether they are trying to hold the floor or are about to switch speakers). By combining these predictions using a joint loss function, the system can determine if the first person will keep talking or if the second person will jump in. For example, if the system detects a rising pitch at the end of a sentence (an acoustic cue) and identifies the intention as a question, it can predict a turn switch to the other person.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover systems that only look at text transcripts without analyzing acoustic cues like pitch or speaking rate.",
    "Does not cover simple rule-based systems that rely solely on silence duration to detect turn-taking.",
    "Does not cover systems that predict the content of the next sentence, only the identity of the next speaker."
  ],
  "filed": "2020-12-23",
  "granted": "2023-05-09",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "International Business Machines Corp",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/international-business-machines-corp",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Emily Mower Provost",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/emily-mower-provost"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lazaros Polymenakos",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/lazaros-polymenakos"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zakaria Aldeneh",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/zakaria-aldeneh"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dimitrios B. Dimitriadis",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/dimitrios-b-dimitriadis"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "ai_ml",
    "telecommunications",
    "consumer_electronics"
  ],
  "abstract": "Systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer program products that can facilitate predicting a source of a subsequent spoken dialogue are provided. According to an embodiment, a system can comprise a memory that stores computer executable components and a processor that executes the computer executable components stored in the memory. The computer executable components can comprise a speech receiving component that can receive a spoken dialogue from a first entity. The computer executable components can further comprise a speech processing component that can employ a network that can concurrently process a transition type and a dialogue act of the spoken dialogue to predict a source of a subsequent spoken dialogue.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11645473/palm-pathways-language-model",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11645473/palm-pathways-language-model/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11645473",
  "relatedPatents": []
}