A method of automatically constructing a model of an activity from an unsupervised examination of a plurality of textual documents describing the activity is comprised of: extracting prototypical steps from the plurality of textual documents; sequencing the extracted steps; aligning the sequenced steps; and constructing the model based on the aligned steps. The model may take the form of a step vs. position matrix which identifies the prototypical steps that make up the activity and provides the probability of each step occupying each position within the activity. The model thus constitutes common sense knowledge that encodes the stereotypical steps of an activity and the stereotypical sequencing of the steps.
AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION OF MODELS OF ACTIVITIES FROM TEXTUAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ACTIVITIES