Abstract
Abstract:
There have been numerous attempts to provide a standardized definition of a computational agent, but little consensus has emerged. We propose a simple test for agenthood that can be applied to a putative computational agent. Roughly, this test seeks to capture the intuition that an agent is an entity that can function as part of a multiagent system. The test depends on the observed behavior of the supposed agent, and not on the internals of it. We apply the test to some well-known kinds of systems of (supposed) agents, and discuss the results. We present a formulation of the test and some variants with a semantics based on sociability. Our treatment of agenthood can thus serve as a methodological basis for evaluating putative agents and agent toolkits. A previous version of some of the ideas developed herein appears as an instance of the column Agents on the Web in IEEE
Citations
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