Télécom Paris - Département Informatique
46 rue Barrault - 75634 PARIS Cedex 13 - France
dessalles@enst.fr -- http://www.enst.fr/~jld
abstract
We present here an analysis of a specific form of explanation that can be found in naturally occurring conversations, and that may be needed by users of KBS: explanations as answers to surprises that follow a discrepancy between expectations and reality. We describe a tutoring system based on this type of explanation: SAVANT3 systematically looks for reasons to be surprised, so that the student feels compelled to give explanations. We examine the requirements that a system has to meet to be able to produce this kind of explanation based on a preliminary surprise.
keywords: explanation - ITS - conversation - argumentation