This paper delves into an advanced implementation of Chain-of-Thought-Prompting in Large Language Models, focusing on the use of tools (or "plug-ins") within the explicit reasoning paths generated by this prompting method. We find that tool-enabled conversational agents often become sidetracked, as additional context from tools like search engines or calculators diverts from original user intents. To address this, we explore a concept wherein the user becomes the tool, providing necessary details and refining their requests. Through Conversation Analysis, we characterize this interaction as insert-expansion - an intermediary conversation designed to facilitate the preferred response. We explore possibilities arising from this 'user-as-a-tool' approach in two empirical studies using direct comparison, and find benefits in the recommendation domain.
@article{arxiv.2307.01644,
title = {Insert-expansions for Tool-enabled Conversational Agents},
author = {Andreas Göldi and Roman Rietsche},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.01644},
year = {2023}
}