ELOQUENCE

Multilingual and Cross-cultural interactions for context-aware, and bias-controlled dialogue systems for safety-critical applications

Start date: 01/01/2024

Duration: 36 months

Topic: HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-03

Total budget: EUR 5 072 543.75

ELOQUENCE is focused on the research and development of innovative technologies for collaborative voice/chat bots. Voice assistant-powered dialogue engines have previously been deployed in a number of commercial and governmental technological pipelines, with a diverse level of complexity. In our concept, such a complexity can be understood as a problem of analyzing unstructured dialogues. ELOQUENCE’s key objective is to better comprehend those unstructured dialogues and translate them into explainable, safe, knowledge-grounded, trustworthy and bias-controlled language models. We envision to develop a technology capable of learning by its own, by adapting from a very data-limited corpora to efficiently support most of the EU languages; from a sustainable computational framework to efficient and green-power architectures and, in essence, that may serve as a guidance for all European citizens whilst being respectful and showing the best of our European values, specifically supporting safety-critical applications by involving humans-in-the-loop. Overall, ELOQUENCE’s project considers building on top and to improve of prior achievements in the domain of conversational agents, e.g. recently launched and public-domain Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT (e.g., more recent versions), or LaMDa and to developed in EU countries.

ELOQUENCE AT A GLANCE

Eloquence will advance SLU technologies for safety-critical applications

Developing new hybrid LLMs combining contextual knowledge toward explainable and decision making in complex semi-structured and unstructured dialogues

Enhancing conversational agents toward un-biased and trustworthy dialogues with end-users

Developing a framework for evaluating conversational AI methods across various scenarios

Defining and implementing pilot programs to validate ELOQUENCE technologies

The ELOQUENCE technologies will involve assessing their adherence to legal, ethical, and societal standards, showcasing their alignment with European values, and promoting awareness of their accomplishments

OUR ROLE

Our undertaking encompasses several pivotal responsibilities within the project. Firstly, we will establish a comprehensive Dissemination, Exploitation, and Communication (DEC) Plan, ensuring a clear and strategic framework. Concurrently, we are dedicated to crafting a robust visual identity and communication strategy, fostering seamless engagement with stakeholders. Additionally, we aim to forge synergies with key entities such as the AI on Demand Platform, EU Data Space-related initiatives, European industrial associations, DIHs, and prominent data exchange movements. This collaborative approach will significantly amplify our growth opportunities. Lastly, our focus extends to the formulation of a roadmap that delineates the path for market uptake and sustainability. This roadmap will guide the progression of our Interactive Playground, LLMs, and other project outcomes, ensuring their enduring impact and success.