Coreference Resolution
Definition
Coreference resolution identifies which text expressions refer to the same entity or event.
A system links, for example, “Maria,” “she,” and “the project manager” to a common reference. This is important for longer texts, information extraction, and knowledge graphs.
Simply explained
Like recognizing who “he,” “she,” or “this company” refers to in the text.
Why it matters in practice
Relevant for document analysis and structured knowledge extraction.
Example from business
A contract parser assigns pronouns and role designations to the correct parties.
Limits and pitfalls
- Ignoring ambiguity; automatically merging names; not testing domain-specific designations.
Origin & history
Coreference resolution is an established NLP problem and has been systematically evaluated in OntoNotes and CoNLL benchmarks.
Use in mid-sized companies
- Possible application in SMEs: improve document extraction when relationships must be tracked across multiple sentences.
Frequently asked questions
Is coreference the same as entity linking?
No; coreference links mentions in the text, entity linking assigns them to a knowledge entity.
Sources
- CoNLL-2012 Shared Task · Pradhan et al. (2012), CoNLL-2012 Shared Task
- Volltext, Einleitung und Abschnitt 3 · Pradhan et al. (2012), Volltext, Einleitung und Abschnitt 3
Sources checked: 10./11.10.2026.
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