Patents by Inventor Blake McGregor

Blake McGregor has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11568856
    Abstract: A combination of propagation operations and learning algorithms is applied, using a selected set of labeled conversational logs retrieved from a subset of a plurality of conversational logs, to a remaining corpus of the plurality of conversational logs to train an automated response system according to an intent associated with each of the conversational logs. The combination of propagation operations and learning algorithms may include defining the labels by a user for the selected set of the subset of the plurality of conversational logs; training a probabilistic classifier using the defined labels of features of the selected set, wherein the probabilistic classifier produces labeling decisions for the subset of conversational logs; weighting the features of the selected set in a model optimization process; and/or training an additional classifier using the weighted features of the selected set and applying the additional classifier to the remaining corpus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tin Kam Ho, Robert L. Yates, Blake McGregor, Rajendra G. Ugrani, Neil R. Mallinar, Abhishek Shah, Ayush Gupta
  • Patent number: 11250216
    Abstract: Provided are embodiments for a computer-implemented method for interacting with a user by an automated response system supporting topic switching and information collection. The computer-implemented method includes receiving a plurality of utterances from the user by the automated response system, and analyzing the utterances to form a first topic thread and an information collection objective. The computer-implemented method also includes utilizing an information collection user interface to gather data to support the information collection objective, and providing responses to the user after the gathered data related to the first topic thread. Also provided are embodiments for a system and computer program product for implementing the techniques described herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Danielle Marie Demme, Thomas Lynden Roach, Christopher Desmarais, Blake McGregor, Ethan James Winters
  • Publication number: 20210049237
    Abstract: Provided are embodiments for a computer-implemented method for interacting with a user by an automated response system supporting topic switching and information collection. The computer-implemented method includes receiving a plurality of utterances from the user by the automated response system, and analyzing the utterances to form a first topic thread and an information collection objective. The computer-implemented method also includes utilizing an information collection user interface to gather data to support the information collection objective, and providing responses to the user after the gathered data related to the first topic thread. Also provided are embodiments for a system and computer program product for implementing the techniques described herein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2019
    Publication date: February 18, 2021
    Inventors: Danielle Marie Demme, Thomas Lynden Roach, Christopher Desmarais, Blake McGregor, Ethan James Winters
  • Publication number: 20210035557
    Abstract: A combination of propagation operations and learning algorithms is applied, using a selected set of labeled conversational logs retrieved from a subset of a plurality of conversational logs, to a remaining corpus of the plurality of conversational logs to train an automated response system according to an intent associated with each of the conversational logs. The combination of propagation operations and learning algorithms may include defining the labels by a user for the selected set of the subset of the plurality of conversational logs; training a probabilistic classifier using the defined labels of features of the selected set, wherein the probabilistic classifier produces labeling decisions for the subset of conversational logs; weighting the features of the selected set in a model optimization process; and/or training an additional classifier using the weighted features of the selected set and applying the additional classifier to the remaining corpus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tin Kam HO, Robert L. YATES, Blake MCGREGOR, Rajendra G. UGRANI, Neil R. MALLINAR, Abhishek SHAH, Ayush GUPTA
  • Patent number: 10839419
    Abstract: An approach is provided for determining a product value score. Features of a product are identified. Ranking data for each identified feature is collected. The ranking data includes popularity, stability, availability, and memory usage of each feature. Additional data for each feature are determined. The additional data includes an importance, a conversion rate, and a marketing impact of each feature. Based on the ranking data and the additional data, normalized data is generated according to characteristics of the features. Based on a data science prediction analysis which uses the identified features, weights of the features are determined. Based on initial results of the data science prediction analysis, a key product is selected from a set of products. Based on the key product and the weights, product value scores of products in the set of products are determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: ChunHui Y. Higgins, Bo Zhang, Chul Sung, Laura G. Ellis, Janhavi Das, Blake McGregor, Adam M. Gunther
  • Patent number: 10832659
    Abstract: Embodiments for training an automated response system using weak supervision and co-training in a computing environment are provided. A plurality of conversational logs comprising interactive dialog sessions between agents and clients for a given product or service are received. A subset of the plurality of conversational logs are retrieved according to a defined criterion, and a selected set of the subset of the plurality of retrieved conversational logs are labeled by a user. The labeling is associated with a semantic scope of intent considered by the clients. A combination of propagation operations and learning algorithms using the selected set of labeled conversational logs are applied to a remaining corpus of the plurality of conversational logs to train the automated response system according to the semantic scope of intent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tin Kam Ho, Robert L. Yates, Blake McGregor, Rajendra G. Ugrani, Neil R. Mallinar, Abhishek Shah, Ayush Gupta
  • Publication number: 20200074984
    Abstract: Embodiments for training an automated response system using weak supervision and co-training in a computing environment are provided. A plurality of conversational logs comprising interactive dialog sessions between agents and clients for a given product or service are received. A subset of the plurality of conversational logs are retrieved according to a defined criterion, and a selected set of the subset of the plurality of retrieved conversational logs are labeled by a user. The labeling is associated with a semantic scope of intent considered by the clients. A combination of propagation operations and learning algorithms using the selected set of labeled conversational logs are applied to a remaining corpus of the plurality of conversational logs to train the automated response system according to the semantic scope of intent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tin Kam HO, Robert L. YATES, Blake MCGREGOR, Rajendra G. UGRANI, Neil R. MALLINAR, Abhishek SHAH, Ayush GUPTA
  • Publication number: 20190213629
    Abstract: An approach is provided for determining a product value score. Features of a product are identified. Ranking data for each identified feature is collected. The ranking data includes popularity, stability, availability, and memory usage of each feature. Additional data for each feature are determined. The additional data includes an importance, a conversion rate, and a marketing impact of each feature. Based on the ranking data and the additional data, normalized data is generated according to characteristics of the features. Based on a data science prediction analysis which uses the identified features, weights of the features are determined. Based on initial results of the data science prediction analysis, a key product is selected from a set of products. Based on the key product and the weights, product value scores of products in the set of products are determined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2018
    Publication date: July 11, 2019
    Inventors: ChunHui Y. Higgins, Bo Zhang, Chul Sung, Laura G. Ellis, Janhavi Das, Blake McGregor, Adam M. Gunther