A preliminary taxonomy of multi-agent interactions

Abstract

Discussions of agent interactions frequently characterize behavior as "coherent," "collaborative," "cooperative," "competitive," or "coordinated." We propose a series of formal distinctions among these terms and several others. We argue that all of these are specializations of the more foundational category of "correlation," which can be measured by the joint information of a system. We also propose "congruence" as a category orthogonal to the others, reflecting the degree to which correlation and its specializations satisfy user requirements. Then we explore the degree to which lack of correlation can arise purposefully, and show the need to use formal stochasticity in cases where such lack of correlation is truly necessary (such as in stochastic search).

Operating instructions for intelligent agent coordination

“…However, direct communication is not the only viable approach: new models are emerging in different research areas of MASs, for example, in environment-based coordination such as stigmergy and, more generally, mediated-interaction frameworks and infrastructures based on forms of coordination/cooperation without direct communication (Parunak et al, 2003;Fenster et al, 1997;Ciancarini et al, 2000;Bonabeau et al, 1999;Odell et al, 2003). Even if we stick to human behaviour, we observe that direct speaking is not the only way of cooperating.…”

“…In contrast to standard approaches based on agent communication languages (ACLs) (Searle, 1969), environment-based coordination (Parunak et al, 2003;Bonabeau et al, 1999;Weyns et al, 2005) is emerging as an interesting alternative for structuring interactions in multiagent systems (MASs). In particular, Ricci et al (2003) propose the notion of coordination artifact as an engineering methodology to build runtime abstractions effectively providing collaborating agents with given coordination tasks.…”

Defining Collaborative Control Interactions Using Systems Theory

“…Distributed control theory has been used to define increasingly coupled control interactions, ranging from collective to coordinated (Murphey and Pardalos, 2002). Finally, multi-agent control theory has been employed to classify interactions according to the different types of communication, intent, and congruence of system-level goals (Parunak et al, 2004).…”

“…Designed systems often consist of components that are mutually cooperative to achieve a common objective. On the opposite end, some systems contend with adversarial interactions, such as those found in competition and conflict (Parunak et al, 2004). Between these two ends, there are also interactions without reciprocal intent.…”

“…1. Lateral coordination is a causal process between peers that does not imply control (Johnson, 2017;Parunak et al, 2004). This dynamic is enabled by the hierarchal structure of the interacting controllers, as described in the taxonomy.…”