A Review of Participating in Explanatory Dialogues: Interpreting and Responding to Questions in Context

Johanna Moore's work in the area of computer-generated explanation has been highly influential. Her thesis work, as well as the subsequent work of her and her students, has helped to change the way we think about the problem of generating explanations. The crux of the explanation problem, according to Moore, is not how to present information as such but how to impart an understanding on the user. The explanation system should be flexible enough that if an initial explanation fails to convey the understanding, it can try explaining the concept in a different way. The system should be aware of what it previously said to the user and what its communicative goals were at the time.