The Influence of Epistemology on the Design of Artificial Agents

Authors: Lee M.H.¹; Lacey N.J.²

Source: Minds and Machines, Volume 13, Number 3, August 2003 , pp. 367-395(29)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Unlike natural agents, artificial agents are, to varying extent, designed according to sets of principles or assumptions. We argue that the designer's philosophical position on truth, belief and knowledge has far reaching implications for the design and performance of the resulting agents. Of the many sources of design information and background we believe philosophical theories are under-rated as valuable influences on the design process. To explore this idea we have implemented some computer-based agents with their control algorithms inspired by two strongly contrasting philosophical positions. A series of experiments on these agents shows that, despite having common tasks and goals, the behaviour of the agents is markedly different and this can be attributed to their individual approaches to belief and knowledge. We discuss these findings and their support for the view that epistemological theories have a particular relevance for artificial agent design.

Keywords: agent design philosophy; agent knowledge bases; autonomous agents; relations between philosophy and artificial intell

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Centre for Advanced Software and Intelligent Systems, Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3BD, Wales, UK 2: Multi-Agent Systems Research Group, Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA

Publication date: 2003-08-01