Syllabus - Conversational Systems (CB-506 (A))

Fundamentals of Conversational Systems

Introduction: Overview, Case studies, Explanation about different modes of engagement for a human being, History and impact of AI. Underlying Technologies: Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, NLG, Speech-To-Text, Text-To-Speech, Computer Vision etc. Introduction to Top players in Market – Google, MS, Amazon &Market trends. Messaging Platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp) and Smart speakers – Alexa, Google Home and other new channels. Ethical and Legal Considerations in AI Overview

Foundational Blocks for Programming

Basic Python programming concepts, Node Basics. Natural Language Processing: Introduction: Brief history, Basic Concepts, Phases of NLP, Application of chatbots etc. General chatbot architecture, Basic concepts in chatbots: Intents, Entities, Utterances, Variables and Slots, Fulfillment. Lexical Knowledge Networks (WordNet, Verbnet, PropBank, etc). Lexical Analysis, Part-of-Speech Tagging, Parsing/Syntactic analysis, Semantic Analysis, Word Sense Disambiguation. Information Extraction, Sentiment Analysis), Affective NLG

Building a chatbot/Conversational AI system

Fundamentals of Conversational Systems (NLU, DM and NLG), Chatbot framework & Architecture, Conversational Flow & Design, Intent Classification (ML and DL based techniques), Dialogue Management Strategies, Natural Language Generation, UX design, APIs and SDKs, Usage of Conversational Design Tools. Introduction to popular chatbot frameworks – Google Dialog flow, Microsoft Bot Framework, Amazon Lex, RASA Channels: Facebook Messenger, Google Home, Alexa, WhatsApp, Custom Apps. Overview of CE Testing techniques, A/B Testing, Introduction to Testing Frameworks - Botium /Mocha ,Chai. Security & Compliance – Data Management, Storage, GDPR, PCI.

Role of ML/AI in Conversational Technologies

Brief Understanding on how Conversational Systems uses ML technologies in ASR, NLP, Advanced Dialog management, Language Translation, Emotion/Sentiment Analysis, Information extraction, etc. to effectively converse

Contact Centers

Introduction to Contact centers – Impact & Terminologies. Case studies & Trends, How does a Virtual Agent/Assistant fit in here? Overview on Conversational Analytics: Conversation Analytics: The need of it, Introduction to Conversational Metrics. Future– Where are we headed? Summary, Robots and Sensory Applications overview, XR Technologies in Conversational Systems, XR-Commerce, What to expect next? – Future technologies and market innovations overview.