Dialogue management is the component of conversational AI that controls the flow of conversation, deciding what the system should do or say next based on the current state, user input, and conversation goals.
How does dialogue management work?
The dialogue manager receives interpreted user input, considers the current conversation state and available actions, and determines the appropriate response. It may decide to ask a clarifying question, provide information, execute an action, or escalate to a human. Modern approaches use language models to make these decisions flexibly rather than following rigid rules.
Why does dialogue management matter?
Dialogue management shapes the conversation experience. Good management creates natural, efficient interactions that progress smoothly toward resolution. Poor management causes confusion, repetition, and dead ends. The dialogue manager essentially embodies the agent’s conversational intelligence.
Dialogue management in practice
A caller says “I need to cancel” without specifying what. The dialogue manager recognizes the ambiguity and checks the conversation state. Finding an appointment mentioned earlier, it asks: “Would you like to cancel your appointment on Thursday?” If no context exists, it asks: “What would you like to cancel?” The response adapts to what is known.