Related papers: Exploring Current User Web Search Behaviours in An…
Virtual assistants are becoming increasingly important speech-driven Information Retrieval platforms that assist users with various tasks. We discuss open problems and challenges with respect to modeling spoken information queries for…
A personalized conversational sales agent could have much commercial potential. E-commerce companies such as Amazon, eBay, JD, Alibaba etc. are piloting such kind of agents with their users. However, the research on this topic is very…
The ability to predict a user's information need would have wide-ranging implications, from saving time and effort to mitigating vocabulary gaps. We study how to interactively predict a user's information need by letting them select a…
Online, people often recount their experiences turning to conversational AI agents (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot) for mental health support -- going so far as to replace their therapists. These anecdotes suggest that AI agents have great…
Search conducted in a work context is an everyday activity that has been around since long before the Web was invented, yet we still seem to understand little about its general characteristics. With this paper we aim to contribute to a…
Intelligent agents such as robots are increasingly deployed in real-world, safety-critical settings. It is vital that these agents are able to explain the reasoning behind their decisions to human counterparts; however, their behavior is…
In this paper we explore the opportunities brought by cognitive augmentation to provide a more natural and accessible web browsing experience. We explore these opportunities through \textit{conversational web browsing}, an emerging…
Conversational agents are systems with a conversational interface that afford interaction in spoken language. These systems are becoming prevalent and are preferred in various contexts and for many users. Despite their increasing success,…
Conversational information seeking (CIS) is concerned with a sequence of interactions between one or more users and an information system. Interactions in CIS are primarily based on natural language dialogue, while they may include other…
Open-domain conversational search (ODCS) aims to provide valuable, up-to-date information, while maintaining natural conversations to help users refine and ultimately answer information needs. However, creating an effective and robust ODCS…
Recently, large language models have facilitated the emergence of highly intelligent conversational AI capable of engaging in human-like dialogues. However, a notable distinction lies in the fact that these AI models predominantly generate…
Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly reshaping information retrieval by enabling interactive, generative, and inference-driven search. While traditional keyword-based search remains central to web and academic information access, it…
Recent advances in natural language processing and deep learning have accelerated the development of digital assistants. In conversational commerce, these assistants help customers find suitable products in online shops through natural…
AI systems have long been expected to interact with users, answering questions, generating content, and continuing (social) conversations. Agentic AI, however, breaks from this expectation, as its primary objective is workflow execution on…
Internet users highly rely on and trust web search engines, such as Google, to find relevant information online. However, scholars have documented numerous biases and inaccuracies in search outputs. To improve the quality of search results,…
Conversational generative AI systems such as ChatGPT are transforming how people seek and engage with information online. Unlike traditional search engines, these systems support open-ended, conversational inquiry, yet it remains unclear…
Engaging in discussions that involve diverse perspectives and exchanging arguments on a controversial issue is a natural way for humans to form opinions. In this process, the way arguments are presented plays a crucial role in determining…
Conversational systems have made significant progress in generating natural language responses. However, their potential as conversational search systems is currently limited due to their passive role in the information-seeking process. One…
Open-domain conversational search assistants aim at answering user questions about open topics in a conversational manner. In this paper we show how the Transformer architecture achieves state-of-the-art results in key IR tasks, leveraging…
The advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) has significantly revolutionized web search. The emergence of LLM-based Search Agents marks a pivotal shift towards deeper, dynamic, autonomous information seeking. These agents can comprehend user…