Getting a quick zinger into a fast-paced conversation takes timing, wit and speed. For people who have difficulty putting their thoughts into words, a new app developed at the University of Maryland, College Park, could reopen opportunities to share in the humor.
“In a group discussion,” said lead researcher Stephanie Valencia, “there’s a sort of window of opportunity when your comment is relevant. If you’re an augmented communications voice user, there’s a delay of sorts that can take a minute, and by that time the conversation has moved on.”
Her project uses artificial intelligence chat models to add speed, accuracy, timing and agency to augmented communications technologies. She said agency is important because the user must feel the AI provides appropriate comments and sentences for them.
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Augmentative and alternative communication refers to a range of speech assistants, from low-tech gestures and picture boards a person can point to, up to tablets and computers that assemble sentences and even speak for them. Eye-gaze technology and switches can also help people with limited typing ability find the bon mot.
Together, these technologies unlock communication for people who have cerebral palsy, stroke or brain injuries. These health issues can cause a condition called aphasia, said doctoral student Lee Jong Ho. “They know what they want to say, but they have a hard time making sentences.”
For faster communication, users can fine-tune the responses with keywords.
“Commercial AI products can be very language-intensive,” Jong Ho said. “This app helps people with aphasia make complete sentences based on just a few words.”
There is even a joke mode called “Why so Serious?” that suggests jokes automatically and lets the user tap parts of the on-screen audio transcript to adjust the response.
They designed four AI-powered interfaces that provide different levels of user control — or agency. A “Context Bubble Selection” interface lets users select parts of the conversation transcript to base the joke on, while a fully automated version generates a complete joke with a single click.
“Our users tended to prefer a full-auto interface,” Jong Ho said. “It will use a portion of the conversation to make a humorous comment that’s appropriate at that point in the conversation. Timing a joke is also about connection, so in some contexts it might be okay if the agency is lower, because the payout is higher.”
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