System and method for learning answers to frequently asked questions from a semi-structured data source

摘要

A frequently-asked-question (FAQ)-based system receives question(s) from a user and generates answer(s) based on data about the question(s). In one embodiment, a method includes retrieving, from a memory, a global structure and candidate answers therein. The method can include computing a first, second, and third probability of a candidate answer based on a local structure of the candidate answer within the global structure, content of the candidate answer given content of a query and context of the candidate answer given the content of the query, respectively. The method can include providing a combined probability of the candidate answer based on the first probability, second probability, and third probability. The method can improve efficiency of a FAQ-based system by automating organization of semi-structured data in a database. Therefore, a human user does not need to manually generate the database when it is already generated in semi-structured form, a semi-structured HTML document.