Motivation and autonomy for pre-negotiation

Abstract

The issues and challenges that surround the concept of interaction are a key focus in agent research. Of all forms of interaction, negotiation is perhaps the most challenging and important for designers of agent-based systems. This is because agents are localised entities that try to obtain satisfaction for their own activities with only limited understanding of the activities of other agents and the goals of the system as a whole. As a result, agents often have conflicting objectives, requiring methods and techniques, such as negotiation, for the resolution of such conflicts. Bargaining, in particular, provides a way for agents to attempt to find agreements in situations of conflict where no external authority can intervene. The work in this thesis describes models and mechanisms that enable agents to use bargaining as a tool to further their aims while ensuring that any agreements reached are consistent with existing goals. We focus on pre-negotiation, that point in time before negotiation begins where decisions that affect the way negotiation proceeds are taken. In the thesis, we bring together deliberative architectures, models of motivation and negotiation to address the issues involved in pre-negotiation.

Specifically, this thesis makes three main contributions. First, it provides a model of negotiation goals that incorporates an analysis of negotiation issues, a deliberative preference determination mechanism and a novel use of motivational mechanisms within negotiation. Second, it provides an analysis and taxonomy of bilateral negotiation issues. Finally, it provides a suite of mechanisms to enable an agent to modify its approach to negotiation based upon information it obtains about the negotiation context. Combined, these contributions enable agents to be more effective negotiators in dynamic domains where user guidance is problematic.

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