Generation of Referring Expressions: Managing Structural Ambiguities

Existing algorithms for the Generation of Referring Expressions tend to generate distinguishing descriptions at the semantic level, disregarding the ways in which surface issues can affect their quality. This paper considers how these algorithms should deal with surface ambiguity, focussing on structural ambiguity. We propose that not all ambiguity is worth avoiding, and suggest some ways forward that attempt to avoid unwanted interpretations. We sketch the design of an algorithm motivated by our experimental findings.

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