A Template Matcher for Robust NL Interpretation

In this paper, we describe the Template Matcher, a system built at SRI to provide robust natural-language interpretation in the Air Travel Information System (ATIS) domain. The system appears to be robust to both speech recognition errors and unanticipated or difficult locutions used by speakers. We explain the motivation for the Template Matcher, describe in general terms how it works in comparison with similar systems, and examine its performance. We discuss some limitations of this approach, and sketch a plan for integrating the Template Matcher with an analytic parser, which we believe will combine the advantages of both.