IP Library Granted Patent US 12,547,822
Granted Patent B2
US 12,547,822 · App. 18/320,588 · Granted Feb 10, 2026

Machine learning divide and conquer techniques for long dialog summarization

Inventors: Vijay Varma Malladi (Hyderabad, IN); Suman Roy (Bangalore, IN); Kaustav Mukherjee (Kolkata, IN)
Assignee: Optum, Inc.
G06F40/166G06N3/044G06N3/0455
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,547,822
App. No.
18/320,588
Granted
Feb 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide summarization techniques for summarizing complex documents, such as long unstructured call transcripts. The summarization techniques include generating a plurality of interaction topics for an interaction transcript and iteratively summarizing each interaction topic based on a preceding partial summary for the interaction transcript that corresponds to a preceding interaction topic that precedes the interaction topic in the interaction transcript. An abstractive summary is generated using a recursive abstractive model that is trained using training data generated based on holistic similarity scores between interaction topics of a call transcript and summary sentences of a corresponding target summary.

Claims (53)

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

generating, by one or more processors, a plurality of interaction topics for an interaction transcript, wherein each interaction topic comprises one or more respective related sequential utterances of the interaction transcript;

receiving, by the one or more processors, a preceding partial summary for the interaction transcript, wherein the preceding partial summary corresponds to at least one preceding interaction topic that precedes an interaction topic in the interaction transcript; and

generating, by the one or more processors and using a machine learning recursive abstractive model, an abstractive summary for the interaction transcript based on the interaction topic and the preceding partial summary, wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model comprises (i) a first encoder configured to generate a first encoding based on the interaction topic, and (ii) a second encoder configured to generate a second encoding based on the preceding partial summary.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the interaction transcript comprises a plurality of interaction utterances,

one or more related sequential utterances of the interaction topic comprise a first subset of the plurality of interaction utterances, and

the preceding partial summary comprises one or more preceding summary sentences corresponding to a second subset of the plurality of interaction utterances that precede the first subset in the interaction transcript.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein generating the plurality of interaction topics for the interaction transcript comprises:

generating, by the one or more processors and using a machine learning topic segmentation model, an utterance similarity score between a pair of interaction utterances from the plurality of interaction utterances;

assigning, by the one or more processors, a first topic label to a first interaction utterance of the pair of interaction utterances based on the utterance similarity score; and

assigning, by the one or more processors, a second topic label to a second interaction utterance of the pair of interaction utterances based on the utterance similarity score.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, by the one or more processors, a topic relevance for the interaction topic based on one or more related sequential utterances of the interaction topic, wherein the topic relevance is indicative of at least one of a relevant topic or an irrelevant topic; and

in response to determining that the interaction topic is the relevant topic, generating, by the one or more processors and using the machine learning recursive abstractive model, the abstractive summary for the interaction transcript based on the interaction topic.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein determining the topic relevance comprises:

generating, by the one or more processors and using a machine learning extractive summarizer model, an extractive summary for the interaction transcript;

generating, by the one or more processors, a topic similarity score between the one or more related sequential utterances and the extractive summary; and

determining, by the one or more processors, the topic relevance of the interaction topic based on the topic similarity score.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the topic similarity score is indicative of a textual similarity between at least one of the one or more related sequential utterances and at least one extractive sentence from the extractive summary.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model further comprises an attention layer configured to generate an attended encoding based on the first encoding and the second encoding.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model further comprises a decoder configured to generate the abstractive summary based on the attended encoding.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model comprises a neural network architecture.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first encoder comprises a first feed forward layer and a first self attention layer configured to generate the first encoding, and the second encoder comprises a second feed forward layer and a second self attention layer configured to generate the second encoding.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model further comprises a joint decoder configured to generate the abstractive summary based on the first encoding and the second encoding.

12 . A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

generating a plurality of interaction topics for an interaction transcript, wherein each interaction topic comprises one or more respective related sequential utterances of the interaction transcript;

receiving a preceding partial summary for the interaction transcript, wherein the preceding partial summary corresponds to at least one preceding interaction topic that precedes an interaction topic in the interaction transcript; and

generate, using a machine learning recursive abstractive model, an abstractive summary for the interaction transcript based on the interaction topic and the preceding partial summary, wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model comprises (i) a first encoder configured to generate a first encoding based on the interaction topic, and (ii) a second encoder configured to generate a second encoding based on the preceding partial summary.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein:

the interaction transcript comprises a plurality of interaction utterances,

one or more related sequential utterances of the interaction topic comprise a first subset of the plurality of interaction utterances, and

the preceding partial summary comprises one or more preceding summary sentences corresponding to a second subset of the plurality of interaction utterances that precede the first subset.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein generating the plurality of interaction topics for the interaction transcript comprises:

generating, using a machine learning topic segmentation model, an utterance similarity score between a pair of interaction utterances from the plurality of interaction utterances;

assigning a first topic label to a first interaction utterance of the pair of interaction utterances based on the utterance similarity score; and

assigning a second topic label to a second interaction utterance of the pair of interaction utterances based on the utterance similarity score.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a topic relevance for the interaction topic based on one or more related sequential utterances of the interaction topic, wherein the topic relevance is indicative of at least one of a relevant topic or an irrelevant topic; and

in response to determining that the interaction topic is the relevant topic, generate, using the machine learning recursive abstractive model, the abstractive summary for the interaction transcript based on the interaction topic.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein determining the topic relevance comprises:

generating, using a machine learning extractive summarizer model, an extractive summary for the interaction transcript;

generating a topic similarity score between the one or more related sequential utterances and the extractive summary; and

determining the topic relevance of the interaction topic based on the topic similarity score.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the topic similarity score is indicative of a textual similarity between at least one of the one or more related sequential utterances and at least one extractive sentence from the extractive summary.

18 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

generating a plurality of interaction topics for an interaction transcript, wherein each interaction topic comprises one or more respective related sequential utterances of the interaction transcript;

receiving a preceding partial summary for the interaction transcript, wherein the preceding partial summary corresponds to at least one preceding interaction topic that precedes an interaction topic in the interaction transcript; and

generating, using a machine learning recursive abstractive model, an abstractive summary for the interaction transcript based on the interaction topic and the preceding partial summary, wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model comprises (i) a first encoder configured to generate a first encoding based on the interaction topic, and (ii) a second encoder configured to generate a second encoding based on the preceding partial summary.

19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 18 , wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model further comprises an attention layer configured to generate an attended encoding based on the first encoding and the second encoding.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 , wherein the machine learning recursive abstractive model further comprises a decoder configured to generate the abstractive summary based on the attended encoding.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 19, 2023
From: MALLADI, VIJAY VARMA; ROY, SUMAN; MUKHERJEE, KAUSTAV
To: OPTUM, INC.
Reel/Frame 063703/0528 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240386189A1 · Nov 21, 2024
References Cited (34)
US 11232266B1 · Biswas et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11314790B2 · Chang et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 12164550B2 · Sotudeh et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20130081056A1 · Hu et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20210027772A1 · Horev et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210311973A1 · Radhakrishnan et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20220067269A1 · De Oliveira · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220108086A1 · Wu et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220189484A1 · Malladi et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220391591A1 · Ronen · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20230107640A1 · Pang · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230259544A1 · Sotudeh Gharebagh · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230419042A1 · Sabapathy · 2023 [cited by examiner]
Beltagy, Iz et al. “Longformer: The Long-Document Transformer,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.05150v2 [cs.CL], Dec. 2, 2020, (17 pages), available online: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2004.05150.pdf?forcedefault=true. [cited by applicant]
Bunt, Harry “Context and Dialogue Control,” Think Quarterly, vol. 3, No. 1, May 1994, pp. 19-31, available online: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Harry-Bunt/publication/2506880_Context_and_Dialogue_Control/links/5… [cited by applicant]
Garg, Nikhil et al. “Cluster Rank: A Graph Based Method For Meeting Summarization,” Idiap Research Institute, Interspeech 2009, 10th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, Brighton, Uni… [cited by applicant]
Gidiotis, Alexios et al. “A Divide-and-Conquer Approach to the Summarization of Long Documents,” IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing, vol. 28, Nov. 12, 2020, pp. 3029-3040, DOI:10.1109/TASLP.… [cited by applicant]
Hearst, Marti A. “TextTiling: Segmenting Text Into Multi-Paragraph Subtopic Passages,” Computational Linguistics, vol. 23, Issue 1, Mar. 1, 1997, pp. 33-64, DOI: 10.5555/972684.972687. [cited by applicant]
Koay, Jia Jin et al. A Sliding-Window Approach To Automatic Creation Of Meeting Minutes. arXiv preprint arXiv:2104.12324 [cs.CL], Apr. 26, 2021, (8 pages), available online: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2104.12324.pdf. [cited by applicant]
Libovický, Jindrich et al. “Input Combination Strategies For Multi-Source Transformer Decoder,” arXiv Preprint arXiv:1811.04716v1 [cs.CL], Nov. 12, 2018, (8 pages), DOI:10.18653/v1/W18-6326. [cited by applicant]
Lin, Chin-Yew. “Rouge: A Package for Automatic Evaluation Of Summaries,” Proceedings of the Workshop On Text Summarization Branches Out, Jul. 2004, pp. 74-81, Barcelona, Spain. Association for Computational Linguistics. [cited by applicant]
Liu, Yixin et al. “BRIO: Bringing Order to Abstractive Summarization,” Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of the Association For Computational Linguistics, vol. 1: Long Papers, May 22-27, 2022, pp. 2890-2903, DOI: 1… [cited by applicant]
Mihalcea, Rada et al. “TextRank: Bringing Order Into Text,” Proceedings of the 2004 Conference On Empirical Methods In Natural Language Processing, pp. 404-411, Jul. 2004, Barcelona, Spain, Association For Computational… [cited by applicant]
Murray, Gabriel et al. “Generating and Validating Abstracts of Meeting Conversations: A User Study,” In Proceedings of the 6th International Natural Language Generation Conference, Jul. 2010, (9 pages), available online… [cited by applicant]
Pilault, Jonathan et al. “On Extractive and Abstractive Neural Document Summarization with Transformer Language Models,” Proceedings of the 2020 Conference On Empirical Methods In Natural Language Processing (EMNLP), No… [cited by applicant]
Rennard, Virgile et al. “Abstractive Meeting Summarization: A Survey,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.04163v1 [cs.CL], Aug. 9, 2022, (20 pages), available online: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2208.04163v1.pdf. [cited by applicant]
Solbiati, Alessandro et al. “Unsupervised Topic Segmentation of Meetings With BERT Embeddings,” arXiv Preprint arXiv:2106.12978v1 [cs.LG], Jun. 24, 2021, (7 pages), available online: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2106.12978.pdf. [cited by applicant]
Szegedy, Christian et al. “Rethinking The Inception Architecture For Computer Vision,” In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference On Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), (Year: 2016), pp. 2818-2826, available onli… [cited by applicant]
Vaswani, Ashish et al. “Attention Is All You Need,” 31st Conference On Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2017), Advances In Neural Information Systems, vol. 30, (Year: 2017), (11 pages), available online: http… [cited by applicant]
Williams, Ronald J. et al. “Gradient-Based Learning Algorithms For Recurrent Networks and Their Computational Complexity,” Back-Propagation: Theory, Architectures and Applications, vol. 13, Jan. 1, 1995, pp. 433-486. [cited by applicant]
Zhang, Yusen et al. “An Exploratory Study on Long Dialogue Summarization: What Works and What's Next,” Findings of the Association For Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2021, Nov. 2021, pp. 4426-4433, DOI: 10.18653/v1/20… [cited by applicant]
Zhang, Yusen et al. “SummN: A Multi-Stage Summarization Framework for Long Input Dialogues and Documents,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.10150v2 [cs.CL], Apr. 13, 2022, (13 pages), available online: https://arxiv.org/pdf/21… [cited by applicant]
Zhong, Ming et al. “: DialogLM: Pre-Trained Model For Long Dialogue Understanding and Summarization,” In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, vol. 36, No. 10, Jun. 28, 2022 pp. 11765-11773. [cited by applicant]
Notice of Allowance and Fees Due (PTOL-85) Mailed on Jun. 27, 2025 for U.S. Appl. No. 18/320,594, 8 page(s). [cited by applicant]