In this paper we argue that topic plays a fundamental role in conversations, and that the concept is needed in addition to that of genre to define interactions. In particular, the concepts of genre and topic need to be separated and orthogonally defined. This would enable modular, reliable and controllable flexible-domain dialogue systems.

翻译：本文论证了主题在对话中扮演着基础性角色，且除体裁概念外，还需主题概念来定义交互。具体而言，体裁与主题这两个概念需要被分离并正交定义。这将有助于构建模块化、可靠且可控的灵活领域对话系统。