isu

A Rust implementation of Information State Update (ISU) theory for dialogue management and conversational AI systems

Overview

isu is a comprehensive Rust library that implements Information State Update (ISU) theory, a formal framework for dialogue management in conversational AI systems. This library provides the core components needed to build sophisticated dialogue managers following the Issue-Based Information State (IBIS) approach.

Key Features

📊 Core Data Structures

• Value: Generic containers with type constraints and validation
• Stack/StackSet: LIFO data structures with uniqueness guarantees
• TSet: Typed sets with optional type checking
• Record: Key-value stores with dynamic type validation

🗣️ Dialogue Management

• IBIS Controller: Full implementation of Issue-Based Information State dialogue management
• Information State: Tracks dialogue context, beliefs, commitments, and questions under discussion (QUD)
• Dialogue Moves: Support for greetings, questions, answers, and ICM (Information State Update Control Mechanisms)

🧠 Semantic Types & Questions

• Propositions: Structured representation of facts with polarity
• Questions: Support for wh-questions, yes/no questions, and alternative questions
• Individuals & Predicates: Typed semantic objects with domain validation
• Answer Types: Short answers, propositions, and yes/no responses

📝 Natural Language Processing

• Grammar System: Configurable generation and interpretation of dialogue moves
• CFG Support: Context-free grammar parsing capabilities
• Multi-modal Input: Support for different input handling strategies (interactive, demo, batch)

🗄️ Knowledge Management

• Domain Knowledge: Formal representation of predicates, sorts, and individuals
• Database Integration: Query interface for external knowledge sources
• Plan Constructors: Conditional planning with findout, consult, and response strategies

🎯 Travel Domain Example

• Complete implementation of a travel booking dialogue system
• Demonstrates price queries, destination planning, and multi-turn conversations
• Includes sample database entries and conversational flows

Architecture

The library follows ISU theory principles:

1. Information State: Central repository for dialogue context
2. Update Rules: Formal rules for state transitions
3. Dialogue Management: Control flow for turn-taking and planning
4. Semantic Interpretation: Mapping between natural language and formal representations

Quick Start

use isu::*;
use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};

// Create domain knowledge
let preds0 = HashSet::from(["expensive".to_string()]);
let preds1 = HashMap::from([("city".to_string(), "location".to_string())]);
let sorts = HashMap::from([
    ("location".to_string(), HashSet::from(["paris".to_string(), "london".to_string()]))
]);

let domain = Domain::new(preds0, preds1, sorts);
let database = TravelDB::new();
let grammar = SimpleGenGrammar::new();

// Create dialogue manager
let mut ibis = IBISController::new(domain, database, grammar);

// Run interactive dialogue
ibis.run();

Use Cases

• Chatbots & Virtual Assistants: Build sophisticated conversational agents
• Dialogue Research: Experiment with ISU theory and dialogue management strategies
• Task-Oriented Systems: Implement goal-driven dialogue systems (booking, support, etc.)
• Multi-turn Conversations: Handle complex dialogue flows with context tracking
• Educational Tools: Learn and teach dialogue management concepts

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is available at docs.rs/isu, including:

• API reference for all public types and functions
• Tutorial on building dialogue systems
• Examples of different dialogue management strategies
• Performance considerations and best practices

Examples

The examples/ directory contains:

• travel.rs: Complete travel booking dialogue system
• Domain-specific implementations and configurations
• Various input handling strategies (interactive, demo, batch)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our contributing guidelines for details on:

• Code style and testing requirements
• Submitting bug reports and feature requests
• Development setup and workflow

License

This project is dual-licensed under MIT and Unlicense. See LICENSE-MIT and UNLICENSE for details.