Requirements for achieving software agents autonomy and defining their responsibility

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of implementing agent-based software systems with respect to agent framework fundamental concepts such as autonomy and interaction without specifying any particular agent internal architecture. The autonomy and interaction axioms imply that a deployment environment has to be defined in order to achieve interaction among agents. This deployment environment may also encode environmental rules and norms of the agent society. The responsibility of an agent is then defined as being in adequacy with its environmental rules. Finally, a formal deployment environment, named MIC*, is presented with a simple application showing how interaction protocols are guaranteed by the deployment environment, which protects agents from non-conform actions and preserve their autonomy. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.