Towards a formal framework for the search of a consensus between autonomous agents

ABSTRACT

This paper aims at proposing a general formal framework for dialogue between autonomous agents which are looking for a common agreement about a collective choice. The proposed setting has three main components: the agents, their reasoning capabilities, and a protocol. The agents are supposed to maintain beliefs about the environment and the other agents, together with their own goals. The beliefs are more or less certain and the goals may not have equal priority. These agents are supposed to be able to make decisions, to revise their beliefs and to support their points of view by arguments. A general protocol is also proposed. It governs the high-level behaviour of interacting agents. Particularly, it specifies the legal moves in the dialogue. Properties of the framework are studied. This setting is illustrated on an example involving three agents discussing the place and date of their next meeting.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.3 Deduction and Theorem Proving

Additional Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
        I.2.11 Distributed Artificial Intelligence

General Terms:
Human Factors, Theory

Keywords:
argumentation, negotiation