Abstract
We present the implementation of an autonomous Choctaw-English bilingual chatbot. Choctaw is an American indigenous language. The intended use of the chatbot is for Choctaw language learners to practice. The system’s backend is NPCEditor, a response selection program that is trained on linked questions and answers. The chatbot’s answers are stories and conversational utterances in both languages. We experiment with the ability of NPCEditor to appropriately respond to language mixed utterances, and describe a pilot study with Choctaw-English speakers.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the U.S. Army. Statements and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy of the United States Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.
We thank Theresa Struwe and Teri Billy for their contributions in Choctaw. We also thank the Los Angeles Choctaw Community Class.
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Brixey, J., Traum, D. (2021). Masheli: A Choctaw-English Bilingual Chatbot. In: D'Haro, L.F., Callejas, Z., Nakamura, S. (eds) Conversational Dialogue Systems for the Next Decade. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 704. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8395-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8395-7_4
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