SALS-SIG Research Seminar

Discourse relations as descriptions of an algorithm for perception, action and theorem-proving

Abstract:

In this talk, I'll outline a new framework for representing the semantics of discourse relations: they are taken to be descriptions of the operation of an algorithm being carried out by an agent interacting with the world. The agent executing the algorithm can be the protagonist in a narrative discourse, or one of the conversational participants in a dialogue. The algorithm is one which interleaves perception, action and theorem proving; it is the kind of algorithm which must be assumed to underlie the behaviour of any sensing and planning agent. Discourse relations, and the text units which they link, are to be thought of as describing stages, or sequences of stages, in this algorithm. I will suggest a number of advantages that emerge from thinking about the semantics of discourse relations in these terms.

Enquiries: sals@mri.mq.edu.au