U6which

U6which is a fictional software framework described in discussions of natural language understanding to illustrate modular disambiguation of which questions. It is not an implemented system, but a conceptual model used in teaching, thought experiments, and some speculative analyses of dialogue design.

Origin and naming: The term emerged in online seminars and academic blogs as a mnemonic for a six-stage process intended to separate questions into distinct pathways of interpretation. The name combines the idea of universality (U), the numeral six (6), and the word which, highlighting its focus on disambiguating which-clauses and choices.

Architecture: U6which envisions six modules that exchange information in a pipeline: 1) input normalization, 2) discourse and context encoding, 3) candidate generation of possible interpretations, 4) constraint propagation and filtering, 5) disambiguation strategy selection using rules, statistics, or learned models, and 6) response construction with justification and evidence. This modular design is intended to show how different sources of context can influence the chosen interpretation.

Applications and examples: In hypothetical dialogues, U6which could handle queries such as which book did she recommend yesterday by considering user history, current topic, and constraints specified in the query. The model emphasizes traceability, allowing the system to explain which factors led to the interpretation.

Reception and status: As a theoretical construct, U6which is cited mainly in educational contexts and discussions of interpreter design. Critics note that as a fictional model it omits practical concerns such as latency, data privacy, and the complexity of real-world language, but it remains a useful aid for thinking about modular disambiguation in dialogue systems.