Mind Modeling: A ToM-Based Framework for Personalization
TLDR
Mind Modeling introduces a ToM-based framework for personalization by explicitly attributing and continuously updating user mental states from behavior.
Key contributions
- Proposes "Mind Modeling," a new paradigm for personalization based on explicit mental state attribution.
- Leverages Theory of Mind (ToM) to interpret user behavior as evidence for internal beliefs, intentions, and emotions.
- Introduces M3, a conceptual framework that continuously updates mental state hypotheses in embodied interactions.
- Enables more interpretable and coherent personalization across diverse interaction episodes.
Why it matters
This paper addresses the limitations of traditional user modeling by explicitly attributing mental states, leading to more robust and interpretable personalization. By grounding personalization in Theory of Mind, it offers a coherent approach for adaptive systems in complex social interactions.
Original Abstract
User modeling has traditionally relied on inferring preferences, traits, or intents from observable behaviour. While effective in many adaptive systems, this paradigm treats behaviour as the primary object of modeling and leaves mental-state attribution implicit. This assumption becomes limiting in socially situated and longitudinal interaction, where behaviour must be interpreted in context and over time. We introduce mind modeling, a perspective in which user modeling is grounded in the explicit and revisable attribution of mental states, including beliefs, intentions, emotions, and knowledge. Drawing on Theory of Mind (ToM), this approach treats behaviour as evidence for hypotheses about internal states, supporting personalization that is more interpretable and coherent across interaction episodes. We present M3, a conceptual framework that integrates perception, mentalisation, and action within a unified structure, enabling the continuous update of mental-state hypotheses in embodied interaction. We further illustrate this perspective through an embodied interaction trace, providing an initial operationalization of mind modeling in practice.
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