Multiagent systems are (usually) virtual worlds in which agents (i.e. entities capable of independent, autonomous actions) pursue goals, interact with each other, cooperate, defect, communicate. A very interesting applicative field of game theory and social theories, they are supposed to bring to us more than relevant conclusions about how agents can best apply strategies to accomplish their goals (mainly a game theory interest), or if they would be better off communicating and cooperating, or defecting and being deceptive (a social theory interest).
Neither are they only interesting as to develop future smarter and more realistic behaviour for AI agents in games (hope u were not thinking Wow).
Their main interesting feat, from my point of view at least, is their ability to negotiate on behalf of us. Having my software agent, representing my financial interests, with my financial history, negotiate with my bank's agent for a low-interest mortgage sounds pretty amazing to me. Also, I could definitely benefit from an agent that would gather information about news, books, forms of entertainment that represent my interests and the possibilities of my budget, cooperating, negotiating and sometimes just saying NO to all the advertising agents of the companies that might try to sell me those services in London. What about an agent that would measure my stress levels, go "out there", in the virtual wildness and organise a surprisingly refreshing day, and then treat me to the program of what I have to do for that day in that exact morning? Well, maybe I'm thinking Data :)
But these little thingyes would apply to business as much as to entertainment. What about an agent carrying my CV, applying to all the jobs that would potentially interest me, analysing the witts of the other agents applying, and coming up with a better strategy/cover letter? I would definitely not mind never completing any other 8 page application form that is just a bit different from the others so I can't use a template, for the rest of my life :). Would that be bad for the HR jobs? Well, they can be human, I don't really mind.
But taking a look at how agents are now, and comparing them with the human agency, some differences strike me. Not saying that these differences have to be bridged before uses can be collected out of the field, I must do a little comparisons, and see what's missing, what is not human in the agent's world, how more levels of realism could be implemented, and if they would help whatsoever and have practical apps.
First of all, in a real world, like mine and yours, the system isn't just a collection of states, and we don't even know our goals for sure.
If I would be an agent that simulates the human experience better, I would be born without much knowledge of what systems and states are, and start exploring the world on my own. I would move, because I can, and because that would be part of self-exploring. I would feel the demands that my body has of me, and try to satisfy them. As an agent, I would not only negotiate the satisfaction of my goals with the external environment, but I would also negotiate the best route to take with myself. Sometimes, I might impose restrictions on my self in order to satisfy requests of my environment.
I would definitely not live in a space where all my goals and their utility is defined. After all, one of the tricky parts of achieving happiness is sometimes not my ability to pursue goals, and my ability to make them come true in the environment, but my ability to know, like a mighty precog, which one of those choices is more in tune with my needs of the present and future.
So, as far as applications go, I can see the agent as being occupying the middle box in a three-folded space, made of himself - the reasonably smart, trying to get it right, cute hero, his needs - which he has to take into consideration and know quite a bit about - and they might be nasty and rebellious when they are not satisfied, and the indifferent environment.
As for the interaction with other agents and their agenda, we haven't even started yet :D.
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