Computational Grounding: An Overview of Common Ground Applications in Conversational Agents

This work reports on the literature on grounding in conversational agents, as one of the pragmatic aspects adopted to ensure a better communicative efficiency in dialogue systems. The paper starts with a general description of the theory of grounding. As far as its computational implications are concerned, grounding phenomena are firstly framed in the common grounding processes described in terms of grounding acts. Secondly, they are considered in the argumentation-related framework within which already grounded information are processed. Open issues and application gaps are finally highlighted.