Leveraging large language models for enhanced process model comprehension

Decision Support Systems, vol. 200, pp. 114563

Abstract

In Business Process Management (BPM), effectively comprehending process models is crucial yet poses significant challenges, particularly as organizations scale and processes become more complex. This paper introduces a novel framework utilizing the advanced capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance the comprehension of complex process models. We present different methods for abstracting business process models into a format accessible to LLMs, and we implement advanced prompting strategies specifically designed to optimize LLM performance within our framework. Additionally, we present a tool, AIPA, that implements our proposed framework and allows for conversational process querying. We evaluate our framework and tool through: i) an automatic evaluation comparing different LLMs, model abstractions, and prompting strategies; ii) a qualitative analysis assessing the ability to identify critical quality issues in process models; and iii) a user study designed to assess AIPA’s effectiveness comprehensively. Results demonstrate our framework’s ability to improve the comprehension and understanding of process models, pioneering new pathways for integrating AI technologies into the BPM field. • Cutting-edge LLMs can effectively interpret abstractions of business process models. • Prompting techniques enhance the LLMs’ comprehension of process models. • Recent open-source LLMs demonstrate comparable effectiveness to commercial solutions. • Advanced LLMs can identify critical quality issues in process models, such as deadlocks and soundness violations. • A case study shows promising results with suggestions for more concise responses.

Authors 9

1. Humam Kourani corresponding Aachen

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, Aachen, 52074, Germany

2. Alessandro Berti Aachen

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, Aachen, 52074, Germany

3. Jasmin Hennrich

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

4. Wolfgang Kratsch

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

5. Robin Weidlich

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

6. Chiao-Yun Li Aachen

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, Aachen, 52074, Germany

7. Ahmad Arslan Aachen

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, Aachen, 52074, Germany

8. Wil M. P. van der Aalst Aachen

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, Aachen, 52074, Germany

9. Daniel Schuster Aachen

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, 53757, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, Aachen, 52074, Germany