Recognizing Uncertainty in Speech

We address the problem of inferring a speaker's level of certainty based on prosodic information in the speech signal, which has application in speech-based dialogue systems. We show that using phrase-level prosodic features centered around the phrases causing uncertainty, in addition to utterance-level prosodic features, improves our model's level of certainty classification. In addition, our models can be used to predict which phrase a person is uncertain about. These results rely on a novel method for eliciting utterances of varying levels of certainty that allows us to compare the utility of contextually-based feature sets. We elicit level of certainty ratings from both the speakers themselves and a panel of listeners, finding that there is often a mismatch between speakers' internal states and their perceived states, and highlighting the importance of this distinction.Comment: 11 page

Conversation in the \u3ci\u3eOdyssey\u3c/i\u3e

Characters in the Odyssey do not as a rule say what they mean. Dialogue tends toward obfuscation rather than illumination, and conversation in this epic is a game at which some people are better players than others. Playing the game properly requires a keen ability to use words to convey meaning indirectly and a sensitive awareness of what has been said despite what has been said. Homer\u27s attitude toward language extends to a generally suspicious view of the world, in which the characters\u27 success in life, even their survival, owes a great deal to both using and recognizing speech as a means of disguising thoughts and intent. Human communication is smoke and mirrors, and the world of the Odyssey is characterized by distrust and uncertainty

The Philosopher as Moral Activist: A Call for Ethical Caution in Publication

It is normal to think that philosophers’ first dedication is to the truth. Publishers and writers consider ideas and papers according to criteria such as originality, eloquence, interestingness, soundness, and plausibility. I suggest that moral consequence should play a greater role in our choices to publish when serious harm is at stake. One’s credence in a particular idea should be weighed against the potential consequences of the publication of one’s ideas both if one turns out to be right and if one turns out to be wrong. This activist approach to philosophical writing combines moral concern with epistemic humility

La reproducción discursiva de rumores económicos

The aim of this study is to characterize a range of rhetorical effects emerging from the dissemination of rumours at the stock exchange market. To address this discursive phenomenon we define a rumour as a type of reproductive enunciation which main attribute is to semanticize uncertainty from a wide range of argumentative perspectives arising in the act of reproduction. In the next level, this chapter describes the specific type of subjectivity involved in the reproduction of speculative rumours, as registered in rava.com.ar financial online forum. This analytical direction follows our intention to demonstrate that the interpretation of rumour argumentative orientations as well as their degree of justifiability, result from recognizing the performance by speech-reproducer or Alfa Subject.Fil: Libenson, Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentin