Natural Language and Computer Interface Design

Considering the problems we have in communicating with other h~rmans using natural language, it is not clear that we want to recreate these problems in dealing with the computer. While there is some evidence that natural language is useful in communications among humans, there is also considerable evidence that it is neither perfect nor ideal. Natural language is wordy (redundant) and imprecise. Most b,*m,m groups who have a need to communicate quickly and accurately tend to develop a rather well specified subset of natural language that is highly coded and precise in nature. Pilots and police are good examples of this. Even working groups within a field or discipline tend over time to develop a jargon that minimizes the effort of communication and clarifies shared precise meanings.