Designing a Framework for Conversational Interfaces

The conversational interface is an idea that is forever on the cusp of transforming the world. The potential is undeniable: Everyone has innate, untapped conversational expertise. We could do away with the nested menus required by visual interfaces; anything the user can name is immediately at hand. We could turn natural language into a declarative scripting language and operating systems into integrated development environments (IDEs). Reality, however, has not lived up to this potential.