System for determination of automated response follow-up

Abstract

Aspects include determination of automated response follow-up. A response to a question from a user is received at a response follow-up system. The response follow-up system analyzes the response using natural language processing to identify one or more response terms. The response follow-up system determines one or more follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms. Based on the response, one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions are pre-fetched from one or more content provider systems including one or more content servers, where a question answering system including the response follow-up system is communicatively coupled to the one or more content provider systems through a network. The response follow-up system modifies an aspect of a user interface displayed to the user based on the one or more follow-up questions and the one or more follow-up responses.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, from a user, a response to a question at a response follow-up system;   analyzing, by the response follow-up system, the response using natural language processing to identify one or more response terms;   determining, by the response follow-up system, one or more follow-up questions from a list of common follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms;   pre-fetching, based on the response, one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions from one or more content provider systems comprising one or more content servers, wherein a question answering system comprising the response follow-up system is communicatively coupled to the one or more content provider systems through a network; and   modifying an aspect of a user interface displayed to the user based on the one or more follow-up questions and the one or more follow-up responses.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying one or more question terms in the question, wherein determining the one or more follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms comprises:
 identifying a question-response pair based on the one or more question terms and the one or more response terms;   accessing the list of common follow-up questions associated with the question-response pair; and   selecting the one or more follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on the question-response pair.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 adding to the list of common follow-up questions as one or more additional follow-up questions are determined.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more follow-up questions comprises identifying a highest ranked subset of the one or more follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on one or more of: a distance score of the one or more follow-up questions relative to the one or more response terms, a history of selection metric, and a user feedback metric. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions, wherein the user interface is modified by displaying the one or more follow-up responses in combination with the response.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions, wherein the user interface is modified by displaying a link to the one or more follow-up responses with the response.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving one or more additional responses to the question at the response follow-up system;   determining one or more additional follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on the one or more additional responses; and   outputting the one or more additional follow-up questions in combination with the one or more follow-up questions to the user interface.   
     
     
         8 . A system, comprising:
 a memory having computer readable instructions; and   a processor for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions including:   receiving, from a user, a response to a question at a response follow-up system;   analyzing, by the response follow-up system, the response using natural language processing to identify one or more response terms;   determining, by the response follow-up system, one or more follow-up questions from a list of common follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms;   pre-fetching, based on the response, one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions from one or more content provider systems comprising one or more content servers, wherein a question answering system comprising the response follow-up system is communicatively coupled to the one or more content provider systems through a network; and   modifying an aspect of a user interface displayed to the user based on the one or more follow-up questions and the one or more follow-up responses.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer readable instructions further comprise identifying one or more question terms in the question, wherein determining the one or more follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms comprises:
 identifying a question-response pair based on the one or more question terms and the one or more response terms;   accessing the list of common follow-up questions associated with the question-response pair; and   selecting the one or more follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on the question-response pair.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer readable instructions further comprise adding to the list of common follow-up questions as one or more additional follow-up questions are determined. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein determining the one or more follow-up questions comprises identifying a highest ranked subset of the one or more follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on one or more of: a distance score of the one or more follow-up questions relative to the one or more response terms, a history of selection metric, and a user feedback metric. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer readable instructions further comprise determining one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions, and the user interface is modified by displaying the one or more follow-up responses in combination with the response. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer readable instructions further comprise determining one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions, and the user interface is modified by displaying a link to the one or more follow-up responses with the response. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer readable instructions further comprise:
 receiving one or more additional responses to the question at the response follow-up system;   determining one or more additional follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on the one or more additional responses; and   outputting the one or more additional follow-up questions in combination with the one or more follow-up questions to the user interface.   
     
     
         15 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the computer processor to perform:
 receiving, from a user, a response to a question at a response follow-up system;   analyzing, by the response follow-up system, the response using natural language processing to identify one or more response terms;   determining, by the response follow-up system, one or more follow-up questions from a list of common follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms;   pre-fetching, based on the response, one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions from one or more content provider systems comprising one or more content servers, wherein a question answering system comprising the response follow-up system is communicatively coupled to the one or more content provider systems through a network; and   modifying an aspect of a user interface displayed to the user based on the one or more follow-up questions and the one or more follow-up responses.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising identifying one or more question terms in the question, wherein determining the one or more follow-up questions based on the one or more response terms comprises:
 identifying a question-response pair based on the one or more question terms and the one or more response terms;   accessing the list of common follow-up questions associated with the question-response pair; and   selecting the one or more follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on the question-response pair.   
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein determining the one or more follow-up questions comprises identifying a highest ranked subset of the one or more follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on one or more of: a distance score of the one or more follow-up questions relative to the one or more response terms, a history of selection metric, and a user feedback metric. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions, wherein the user interface is modified by displaying the one or more follow-up responses in combination with the response.   
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining one or more follow-up responses to the one or more follow-up questions, wherein the user interface is modified by displaying a link to the one or more follow-up responses with the response.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 receiving one or more additional responses to the question at the response follow-up system;   determining one or more additional follow-up questions from the list of common follow-up questions based on the one or more additional responses; and   outputting the one or more additional follow-up questions in combination with the one or more follow-up questions to the user interface.