Kees van Deemter (Guangzhou WS, Dec '10) Why Be Vague? Kees van Deemter Computing Science University...

Kees van Deemter (Guangzhou WS, Dec '10)

Why Be Vague?

Kees van Deemter

Computing Science

University of Aberdeen


An expression is vague (V) iff it has borderline cases or degrees, e.g.

• large, small, fast, slow, many, few , ...

V expressions are common in all languages

• 8 out of top 10 adjectives in BNC• Dominant among the first words we learn


Two “big” problems with vagueness

1. The semantic problem: How to model the meaning of V expressions?

– Classical models: 2-valued– Partial models: 3-valued– Degree models: many-valued

(e.g. Fuzzy Logic, Probabilistic Logic)

No agreement how to answer this question (e.g., Keefe & Smith 1997)


The pragmatic problem:

2. Why is language vague?

• Vague expressions seem a bit unclear

• Is it ever a good idea to be V?

• Suppose you built an electronic information provider; would you ever want it to offer you V information?


Barton Lipman • chapter in A.Rubinstein, “Economics and

Language” (2000)• working paper “Why is Language Vague” (2006)

Why have we tolerated an apparent “worldwide several-thousand year efficiency loss”?

That’s today’s topic


The scenario of Lipman (2000, 2006)

Airport scenario: I describe Mr X to you, to pick him up from the airport. All I know is X’s height; heights are uniformly distributed across people on [0,1]. If you identify X right away, you get payoff 1; if you don’t then you get payoff -1


What description would work best?

• State X’s height “precisely” If each of us knows X’s exact height then the probability of confusion is close to 0.


What description would work best?


If only one property is allowed: • Say “the tall person” if height(X) > 1/2,

else say “the short person”.


What description to choose?


If only one property is allowed:• Say “the tall person” if height(X) > 1/2,

else say “the short person”.

No boundary cases, so this is not vague!

Theorem: under standard game-theory assumptions (Crawford/Sobel), vague communication can never be optimal


One type of answer to Lipman: conflict between S and H

• Aragones and Neeman (2000): ambiguity can add to speakers’ utility US (politician’s example)


One type of answer to Lipman: conflict between S and H

• Aragones and Neeman (2000): ambiguity can add to speakers’ utility US (politician’s example) – vD(2010): the same applies to V

• But what if language is used “honestly”? (i.e., US =UH)

• An illustrative application:

Natural Language Generation


• Natural Language Generation (NLG) is an area of AI with many practical applications (e.g. Reiter and Dale 2000)

• An NLG program “translates” input data to linguistic output

• Choosing the best linguistic Form for a given Content

• Choice can be related to utility


Example: Roadgritting (Turner et al. 2009)


Example: Roadgritting (e.g.,Turner et al. 2009)

Compare1. “Roads above 500m are icy”2. “Roads in the Highlands are icy”

Decision-theoretic perspective:1. 100 false positives, 2 false negatives2. 10 false positives, 10 false negatives

Supposeeach false positive has utility of -0.1each false negative has utility of -2


Example: Roadgritting (e.g.,Turner et al. 2009)

Supposefalse positive has utility of -0.1

false negative has utility of -2

Then1: 100 false pos, 2 false neg = -14

2: 10 false pos, 10 false neg = -21

So summary 1 is preferred over summary 2.


• Our question: “When (if ever) is vague communication more useful than crisp communication?”

• The question is not: “Can vague communication be of some use?”


1. Vicissitudes of measurement 11m 12m


1. Vicissitudes of measurement

• Example: One house of 11m height and one house of 12m height

1. “the house that’s 12m tall needs to be demolished”

2. “the tall house needs to be demolished”

• Comparison is easier and more reliable than measurement prefer utterance 2


1. Vicissitudes of measurement

• Example: One house of 11m height and one house of 12m height

1. “the house that’s 12m tall needs to be demolished”

2. “the tall house needs to be demolished”

• Comparison is easier and more reliable than measurement prefer utterance 2

• [But arguably, this is not vague]


2. Production/interpretation Effort

• Effort needs to be commensurate with utility. In many cases, more precision adds little benefit.

• E.g., Feasibility of an outing does not depend on whether it’s 25 C or 26.573 C

• [But why does this require V? All we need is rounding!]


3.Evaluation payoff

• Example: The doctor says– Utterance 1: “Your blood pressure is 153/92.”– Utterance 2: “Your blood pressure is high.”

• U2 offers less detail than U1• But U2 also offers evaluation of your

condition (cf. Veltman 2000)


• Example: The doctor says– Utterance 1: “Your blood pressure is 153/92.”– Utterance 2: “Your blood pressure is high.”

• U2 offers less detail than U1• But U2 also offers evaluation of your

condition (cf. Veltman 2000)– Especially useful if metric is “difficult”– Measurable as likelihood of incorrect action


Empirical evidence

• B.Zikmund-Fisher et al. (2007)

• E.Peters et al. (2009)

Experiments showing that evaluative categories (i.e., “labels”) affect readers’ decisions


Empirical evidence

E.Peters et al. (2009):

Hospital ratings based on numerical factors: (1) survival percentages, (2) percentages of recommended treatment, and (3) patient satisfaction

Evaluation judgment:“How attractive is this hospital to you?”


E.Peters et al. (2009)

• When numerical information was accompanied by labels (“fair”, “good”, “excellent”), a greater proportion of variance in evaluation judgments could be explained by the numeric factors– Without labels, the most important information

(i.e., factor 1) was not used at all– Without labels, less numerate subjects were

influenced by mood (“I feel good/bad/happy/upset”)


But …

• Why does English not have a (brief) expression that says “Your blood pressure is 150/90 and too high”?]

• Similar: “survival percentage is x and this is good”

• Compare: arguably,“You are obese” means

“Your BMI is above 30 and this is dangerous”.


4. Future contingencies

• Indecent Displays Control Act (1981) forbids public display of indecent matter– “indecent” at the time

the law has been parameterised

(Waismann 1968, Hart 1994, Lipman 2006)

• Obama/Volcker: Not “too much risk” should be concentrated into one bank (Jan. 2010)– opening bid in a policy war


5. Lack of a good metric

– Mathematics: How difficult is a proof? (“As the reader may easily verify”)

– Multi-dimensional measurements: What’s the size of a house?

– Esthetics: How beautiful is a sunset?


So far ...

• Previous answers to the question why language is vague

• Valuable ideas, but do we have any knock-down arguments?


Remainder of this talk

• Explore tentative new answer: V can “oil the wheels” of communication

• Starting point: it’s almost inconceivable that all speakers arrive at exactly the same concepts


Causes of semantic mismatches

• Perception varies per individual– Hilbert 1987 on colour terms: density of pigment

on lens & retina; sensitivity of photo receptors

• Cultural issues. – Reiter et al. 2005 on temporal expressions.

Example: “evening”: Are the times of dinner and sunset relevant?

• R.Parikh (1994) recognised that mismatches exist …


• Parikh proposed utility-oriented perspective on meaning– Utility as reduction in search effort

• showed communication doesn’t always break down when words are understood (slightly) differently by different speakers

• Consider the expression “blue book”


Blue books (Bob)

Blue books (Ann)

25

75

225

Ann: “Bring the blue book on topology”

Bob: Search [[blue]]Bob, then, if necessary, all other books

(only10% probability!)

675


Parikh showed that Ann’s utterance is useful, despite their difference

Parikh did not show utility of V – Ann and Bob used crisp concepts!

• This talk: “tall” instead of “blue”. 1-dimensional [[tall1]] [[tall2]] or [[tall2]] [[tall1]]

• Focus on V


The stolen diamond

“A diamond has been stolen from the Emperor and (…) the thief must have been one of the Emperor’s 1000 eunuchs. A witness sees a suspicious character sneaking away. He tries to catch him but fails, getting fatally injured (...). The scoundrel escapes. (…) The witness reports “The thief is tall” , then gives up the ghost. How can the Emperor capitalize on these momentous last words?”

(van Deemter-2010)


The problem with dichotomies

• Suppose Emperor uses a dichotomy, e.g. Model A:

[[tall]]Emperor = [[>180cm]] (e.g., 500 people)

• What if [[tall]]Witness = [[>175cm]]?

If thief [[tall]]Witness - [[tall]]Emperor

then Predicted search effort: 500+ ½(500)=750Without witness’ utterance: ½(1000)=500

• The witness’ utterance “misled” the Emperor

180cm

thief

175cm

A


• Model A uses a crisp dichotomy between [[tall]]A and [[tall]]A

• Contrast this with a partial model B, which has a truth value gap [[?tall?]]B


Model A Model B

tallA

tallA

tallB

?tall?B

tallB

2-valued 3-valued

180cm 180cm

165cm


How does the Emperor classify the thief?

s(X) =def expected search time given model X

Three types of situations

Type 1: thief [[tall]]A = [[tall]]B

In this case, s(A)=s(B)


How does the emperor classify the thief?

Type 2: thief [[?tall?]]B

model A: search all of [[tall]]A in vain, then (on average) half of [[tall]]A

model B: search all of [[tall]]B in vain, then (on average) half of [[?tall?]]B

B searches ½(card([[tall]]B)) less!

So, s(B)<s(A)


How does the emperor classify the thief?

Type 3: thief [[tall]]B

model A: search all of [[tall]]A in vain, then (on average) half of [[tall]]A

model B: search all of [[tall]]B in vain, then all of [[?tall?]]B

then (on average) half of [[tall]]B

Now A searches ½(card([[?tall?]]B)) less.So, s(A)<s(B)


Normally model B wins

• “Type 2 is more probable than Type 3”

• Let S = xy((x[[?tall?]]B & y[[tall]]B) p(“tall(x)”) > p(“tall(y)”)

• S is highly plausible! (Taller individuals are more likely to be called tall)


Normally model B wins

S: xy ((x[[?tall?]]B & y[[tall]]B) p(“tall(x)”) > p(“tall(y)” )

S implies

xy ((x[[?tall?]]B & y[[tall]]B) p(thief(x)) > p(thief(y) )

• It pays to search [[?tall?]]B before [[tall]]B

• A priori, s(B) < s(A)


Why does model B win?

• 3-valued models beat 2-valued models because they distinguish more finely

• Therefore, many-valued models should be even better!– All models that allow degrees or ranking

(including e.g. Kennedy 2001)


Consider degree model C

• v(tall(x)) [0,1] (e.g., Fuzzy or Probabilistic Logic)

xy ((v(tall(x)) > v((tall(y)) p(“tall(x)”) > p(“tall(y)”)

height(x)

probability of x being called “tall”


Consider degree model C

• Analogous to the Partial model

• C allows the Emperor to– rank the eunuchs, and – start searching the tallest ones, etc.

• Assuming >3 differences in height (i.e., more than 3 differences in v(tall(x)), this is even quicker than B: s(C) < s(B)


An example of model C

v(tall(a1)=v(tall(a2))=0.9v(tall(b1)=v(tall(b2))=0.7v(tall(c1)=v(tall(c2))=0.5v(tall(d1)=v(tall(d2))=0.3v(tall(e1)=v(tall(e2))=0.1

• Search {a1,a2} first, then {b1,b2}, etc. (5 levels)• This is quicker than a partial model (3 levels)• which is quicker than a classical model (2 levels)


This analysis suggests …


This analysis suggests …

• ... that it helps the Emperor to understand “tall” as having borderline cases or degrees

• But, borderline cases and degrees are the hallmark of V

• It appears to follow that V has benefits for search


This analysis also suggests …

... that degree models offer a better understanding of V than partial models– Compare the first “big” problem with V

• Radical interpretation: V concepts don’t serve to narrow down search space, but to suggest an ordering of it


Objections …


Objections …

• Objection 1: “Smart search would have been equally possible based on a dichotomous (i.e., classical) model”.


Objections …


• The idea: You can use a classical model,yet understand that other speakers use other classical models. Start searching individuals who are tall on most models.


Objections …


• The idea: you can use a classical model yet understand that other speakers use other classical models. Start searching individuals who are tall on most models

• Response: Reasoning about different classical models is not a classical logic but a Partial Logic with supervaluations. Presupposes that “tall” is understood as vague.


Objections …

• Objection 2: “Truth value gaps (or degrees) do not imply vagueness”.


Objections …

• Objection 2: “Truth value gaps (or degrees) do not imply vagueness”.

• The idea: Truth value gaps that are crisp fail to model V. (Similar for degrees.) Higher-order V needs to be modelled.


Objections …

• Objection 2: “A truth value gap (or degrees) does not imply vagueness”.

• The idea: Truth value gaps that are crisp fail to model V. (Similar for degrees.) Higher-order V needs to be modelled.

• Response: few formal accounts of V pass this test


Objections …

• Objection 3: “Why was the witness not more precise?”


Objections …


• The idea: Witness should have said “the thief was 185cm tall”, giving an estimate


Objections …


• The idea: Witness should have said “the thief was 185cm tall”, giving an estimate

• Response: (1) Why are such estimates vague (“approximately 185cm”) rather than crisp (“185cm =/- 0.5cm”)? (2) This can be answered along the lines proposed.


Objections …

• Objection 4: “This contradicts Lipman’s theorem”


Objections …


• The idea: Lipman (2006) proved that every V predicate can be replaced by a crisp one that has a utility at least as high.


Objections …


• The idea: Lipman (2006) proved that every V predicate can be replaced by a crisp one that has a utility at least as high.

• Response: Lipman’s assumptions don’t apply: (1) Theorem models V through probability distribution. (2) Theorem assumes that hearer knows what crisp model the speaker uses (e.g. “>185cm”).


Lipman’s theorem assumes that hearer knows what crisp model the speaker uses

Our starting point: in “continuous” domains, perfect alignment between speakers/hearers would be a miracle

(pace epistemicist approaches to V !)


Summing up

• Why information reduction is useful is well understood

• Why this should involve borderline cases is less clear. (Lipman’s question)

• Several tentative answers have been published.

• A new answer, based on mismatches in perception and benefits for search– complements earlier answers


“Utility and Language Generation: The Case of Vagueness”. Journal of Philosophical Logic 38/6.

“Vagueness Facilitates Search”. Proceedings of the 2010 Amsterdam Colloquium, Springer Lecture Notes.


“Not Exactly: in Praise of Vagueness”.

Oxford University Press, Jan. 2010

Part 1: Vagueness in science and daily life.

Part 2: Linguistic and logical models of vagueness.

Part 3: Working models of V in Artificial Intelligence.


Background on the book:

http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~kvdeemte/NotExactly

Acknowledgments relating to this talk:

Ehud Reiter, Advaith Siddharthan

http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~kvdeemte/NotExactly

Kees van Deemter (Guangzhou WS, Dec '10) Why Be Vague? Kees van Deemter Computing Science University...

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