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There's a higher-order set of contexts as well. Everyone in the conversation (the asker and the answerer) knows that "London" likely means "London, UK" - that's

There's a higher-order set of contexts as well. Everyone in the conversation (the asker and the answerer) knows that "London" likely means "London, UK" - that's the Bayesian default. So the if the asker wants to inquire about London, Ontario (and they are not continuing a previous conversation about London, Ontario), they are very likely to be explicit in their ask: "What's the time in London, Ontario?" The asker has a mental model of the answerer's default contexts, and if their question is likely to be ambiguous in those default contexts, they are more likely to be explicit in their ask. The converse is also true - if the asker is not explicit about which London, that's actually a signal to the answerer to lean even harder on default contexts and best guesses. Humans do this without even thinking because though culture and conversation we are quick to arrive at shared mental models and lean on shorthands "in the other person's head". AI not only doesn't have it's own context, it doesn't have an estimate of it's user's context and where the two might differ.

mojuba 6y ago
I disagree. Should the resident of London, Ontario say it every time to a virtual assistant about the weather when it should be obvious they are interested in the place of residence? And so on, all the same context layers apply (British expat in London, Ontario, etc.)
- schrodinger 6y ago
  If they were somehow calling a global hotline that could answer arbitrary questions for free, then yes, I suspect someone in Ontario would still clarify. If it was a local hotline, maybe not. Which is Siri?
  - bscphil 6y ago
    Some additional variations: What if you were calling an individual human personal assistant who knew you lived in London, Ontario? What if you had previously clarified to this person that when you said London, you meant London, Ontario? I think both of these questions ought to be relevant to the digital personal assistants that we're creating.

mojuba 6y ago

I disagree. Should the resident of London, Ontario say it every time to a virtual assistant about the weather when it should be obvious they are interested in the place of residence? And so on, all the same context layers apply (British expat in London, Ontario, etc.)

schrodinger 6y ago
If they were somehow calling a global hotline that could answer arbitrary questions for free, then yes, I suspect someone in Ontario would still clarify. If it was a local hotline, maybe not. Which is Siri?
- bscphil 6y ago
  Some additional variations: What if you were calling an individual human personal assistant who knew you lived in London, Ontario? What if you had previously clarified to this person that when you said London, you meant London, Ontario? I think both of these questions ought to be relevant to the digital personal assistants that we're creating.