IP Library Granted Patent US 10,847,142
Granted Patent B2
US 10,847,142 · App. 16/883,099 · Granted Nov 24, 2020

Maintaining privacy of personal information

Inventors: Brandon J. Newendorp (San Francisco, CA); Joanna S. Peterson (San Jose, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
G10L15/1815G06F3/167G06F21/6245G06F40/20G06F40/56G10L15/22G10L15/30G06F3/0484G06F3/0488G10L15/183G10L15/1822G10L2015/223
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,847,142
App. No.
16/883,099
Granted
Nov 24, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and processes for operating an intelligent automated assistant to perform intelligent list reading are provided. In accordance with one example, a method includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors, receiving a natural-language input corresponding to a domain; providing the natural-language input to an external device; receiving, from the external device, a process flow corresponding to the domain; determining, with the process flow corresponding to the domain, a task associated with the natural-language input; performing the task; and providing an output indicating whether the task has been performed.

Claims (134)

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to:

receive a natural-language input requesting to retrieve private data;

provide the natural-language input to an external device, wherein the external device does not store the private data;

receive, from the external device, a process flow in accordance with a determination that the natural-language input corresponds to a privacy domain;

determine, based on executing the process flow at the electronic device, a task associated with the natural-language input;

perform the task based on the private data from a memory of the electronic device; and

provide an output indicating whether the task has been performed.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein performing the task includes retrieving the private data from the memory of the electronic device.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the task based on context of the electronic device.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the privacy domain is a domain associated with the private data.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the process flow includes ASR flow, NL processing flow, or a combination thereof.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the output is based on a type of the electronic device.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the task; and

determining a parameter associated with the task,

wherein performing the task includes performing the task using the parameter.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

receiving a plurality of candidate tasks; and

selecting the task from the plurality of candidate tasks.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein performing the task comprises:

generating a natural-language output, and

wherein providing the output indicating whether the task has been performed comprises:

providing the natural-language output.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device includes a touch-sensitive display, and wherein providing the output indicating whether the task has been performed comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the process flow includes user interface flow and wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output according to the user interface flow.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the private data.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing the output based on context of the electronic device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the process flow comprises a set of executable instructions corresponding to the privacy domain.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the external device receives the natural-language input, identifies a domain of the natural-language input, and provides the process flow to the electronic device, and wherein the process flow corresponds to the identified domain.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the external device generates a first text string based on the natural-language input, and wherein providing the process flow to the electronic device includes providing the first text string to the electronic device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the task is a first candidate task, wherein identifying the domain of the natural-language input comprises:

determining whether the domain is a domain of a predetermined type, the domain of the predetermined type including the privacy domain, and wherein providing the process flow to the electronic device comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the domain is not a domain of the predetermined type:

determining a second candidate task associated with the natural-language input; and

providing the second candidate task to the electronic device; and

in accordance with a determination that the domain is a domain of the predetermined type, forgoing determining the second candidate task associated with the natural-language input.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein determining the second candidate task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the second candidate task based on context of the external device.

19. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device having one or more processors, a memory, and a touch-sensitive display:

receiving a natural-language input requesting to retrieve private data;

providing the natural-language input to an external device, wherein the external device does not store the private data;

receiving, from the external device, a process flow in accordance with a determination that the natural-language input corresponds to a privacy domain;

determining, based on executing the process flow at the electronic device, a task associated with the natural-language input;

performing the task based on the private data from the memory of the electronic device; and

providing an output indicating whether the task has been performed.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

a touch-sensitive display;

one or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving a natural-language input requesting to retrieve private data;

providing the natural-language input to an external device, wherein the external device does not store the private data;

receiving, from the external device, a process flow in accordance with a determination that the natural-language input corresponds to a privacy domain;

determining, based on executing the process flow at the electronic device, a task associated with the natural-language input;

performing the task based on the private data from the memory of the electronic device; and

providing an output indicating whether the task has been performed.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein performing the task includes retrieving the private data from the memory of the electronic device.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the task based on context of the electronic device.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the privacy domain is a domain associated with the private data.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the process flow includes ASR flow, NL processing flow, or a combination thereof.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the output is based on a type of the electronic device.

26. The method of claim 19 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the task; and

determining a parameter associated with the task,

wherein performing the task includes performing the task using the parameter.

27. The method of claim 19 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

receiving a plurality of candidate tasks; and

selecting the task from the plurality of candidate tasks.

28. The method of claim 19 , wherein performing the task comprises:

generating a natural-language output, and

wherein providing the output indicating whether the task has been performed comprises:

providing the natural-language output.

29. The method of claim 19 , wherein the electronic device includes a touch-sensitive display, and wherein providing the output indicating whether the task has been performed comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the process flow includes user interface flow and wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output according to the user interface flow.

31. The method of claim 29 , wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the private data.

32. The method of claim 29 , wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing the output based on context of the electronic device.

33. The method of claim 19 , wherein the process flow comprises a set of executable instructions corresponding to the privacy domain.

34. The method of claim 19 , wherein the external device receives the natural-language input, identifies a domain of the natural-language input, and provides the process flow to the electronic device, and wherein the process flow corresponds to the identified domain.

35. The method of claim 34 , wherein the external device generates a first text string based on the natural-language input, and wherein providing the process flow to the electronic device includes providing the first text string to the electronic device.

36. The method of claim 34 , wherein the task is a first candidate task, wherein identifying the domain of the natural-language input comprises:

determining whether the domain is a domain of a predetermined type, the domain of the predetermined type including the privacy domain, and wherein providing the process flow to the electronic device comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the domain is not a domain of the predetermined type:

determining a second candidate task associated with the natural-language input; and

providing the second candidate task to the electronic device; and

in accordance with a determination that the domain is a domain of the predetermined type, forgoing determining the second candidate task associated with the natural-language input.

37. The method of claim 36 , wherein determining the second candidate task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the second candidate task based on context of the external device.

38. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein performing the task includes retrieving the private data from the memory of the electronic device.

39. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the task based on context of the electronic device.

40. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the privacy domain is a domain associated with the private data.

41. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the process flow includes ASR flow, NL processing flow, or a combination thereof.

42. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the output is based on a type of the electronic device.

43. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the task; and

determining a parameter associated with the task,

wherein performing the task includes performing the task using the parameter.

44. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein determining, based on executing the process flow, the task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

receiving a plurality of candidate tasks; and

selecting the task from the plurality of candidate tasks.

45. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein performing the task comprises:

generating a natural-language output, and

wherein providing the output indicating whether the task has been performed comprises:

providing the natural-language output.

46. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the electronic device includes a touch-sensitive display, and wherein providing the output indicating whether the task has been performed comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output.

47. The electronic device of claim 46 , wherein the process flow includes user interface flow and wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output according to the user interface flow.

48. The electronic device of claim 46 , wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the private data.

49. The electronic device of claim 46 , wherein providing, on the touch-sensitive display, the output comprises:

providing the output based on context of the electronic device.

50. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the process flow comprises a set of executable instructions corresponding to the privacy domain.

51. The electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the external device receives the natural-language input, identifies a domain of the natural-language input, and provides the process flow to the electronic device, and wherein the process flow corresponds to the identified domain.

52. The electronic device of claim 51 , wherein the external device generates a first text string based on the natural-language input, and wherein providing the process flow to the electronic device includes providing the first text string to the electronic device.

53. The electronic device of claim 51 , wherein the task is a first candidate task, wherein identifying the domain of the natural-language input comprises:

determining whether the domain is a domain of a predetermined type, the domain of the predetermined type including the privacy domain, and wherein providing the process flow to the electronic device comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the domain is not a domain of the predetermined type:

determining a second candidate task associated with the natural-language input; and

providing the second candidate task to the electronic device; and

in accordance with a determination that the domain is a domain of the predetermined type, forgoing determining the second candidate task associated with the natural-language input.

54. The electronic device of claim 53 , wherein determining the second candidate task associated with the natural-language input comprises:

determining the second candidate task based on context of the external device.

Priority Claims (1)
DK 201770405 · May 29, 2017 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15917355 · Mar 9, 2018
Provisional Application 62505019 · May 11, 2017
Related Publication 20200286472A1 · Sep 10, 2020
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