Social power and norms : impact on agent behaviour

Abstract

Since the agent paradigm emerged, agent researchers have faced the challenge of building open societies in which heterogeneous and independently designed entities can work towards similar or different ends. Open societies involve agents that do not necessarily share the same interests, that do not know and might not trust each other, but that can work together and help each other. One of the key omissions in the computational representation of open societies relates to the need for norms in multi-agent systems, that help to cope with the heterogeneity, the autonomy and the diversity of interests among their members. This also requires agents that can reason about norms because their participation in a society, rather than predefined, must be voluntary. So, these agents must understand why norms should be adopted and complied with, and why the authority and the power of agents in a society must be respected. This thesis addresses both the introduction of norms in systems of autonomous agents, and the modelling of agents that can reason about norms.

The thesis makes three main contributions. First, it develops a framework of normative concepts that enables agents to reason about norms and the society in which they participate. Second, it provides the means for agents to identify situations of power and to use these powers both for the satisfaction of their goals and to understand why the goals of other agents must be satisfied. This is required since agents in an open society must interact with other agents which are also autonomous, and power represents a means to influence them. Third, this thesis provides models for agents that adopt and comply with norms not as an end, but as the result of a deliberation process in which if their goals and motivations are taken into account. This enables agents to voluntarily decide whether participating in a society is important for the achievement of their goals.

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