understand only situations for which it has a sketchy script, and there are some situations for which no sketchy script can be written. For example, FRUMP cannot understand editorials, which often explain a heretofore unrealized consequence of adopting the right or wrong position. There is no way to anticipate these novel, unforeseen ramifications at the time the sketchy script is written.
However, this does not argue that FRUMP's organization cannot be applied to a larger class of articles. It is a weakness of FRUMP's PREDICTOR module, not a breakdown in the PREDICTOR/SUBSTANTIATOR dialogue, that makes understanding these articles impossible for FRUMP. A more powerful PREDICTOR that can provide the SUBSTANTIATOR module with accurate characterizations of possible inputs for these stories is needed. With a more powerful PREDICTOR, FRUMP-like parsing could be applied to a much larger class of text inputs.
This work was supported in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense and monitored by the Office of Naval Research under contract N00014-75-C-1111.
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