A model-based ambient agent providing support in handling desire and temptation

Abstract

An ambient agent system is presented estimating a human’s dynamics of desiring and being tempted. The agent is equipped with a dynamical model of the human’s processes which describes how a desire relates to responses in the form of being prepared for certain actions, which in turn relate to feelings which can be biased, due to experiences in the past. It is shown how by use of this dynamical model, the ambient agent is able to predict and assess a human’s desire state, and his or her preparation for certain actions, and use this assessment to suggest alternatives to avoid falling for certain temptations.