54,292 research outputs found
Agent-Based Models and Simulations in Economics and Social Sciences: from conceptual exploration to distinct ways of experimenting
Now that complex Agent-Based Models and computer simulations
spread over economics and social sciences - as in most sciences of complex
systems -, epistemological puzzles (re)emerge. We introduce new
epistemological tools so as to show to what precise extent each author is right
when he focuses on some empirical, instrumental or conceptual significance of
his model or simulation. By distinguishing between models and simulations,
between types of models, between types of computer simulations and between
types of empiricity, section 2 gives conceptual tools to explain the rationale of
the diverse epistemological positions presented in section 1. Finally, we claim
that a careful attention to the real multiplicity of denotational powers of
symbols at stake and then to the implicit routes of references operated by
models and computer simulations is necessary to determine, in each case, the
proper epistemic status and credibility of a given model and/or simulation
Subjective probability and quantum certainty
In the Bayesian approach to quantum mechanics, probabilities--and thus
quantum states--represent an agent's degrees of belief, rather than
corresponding to objective properties of physical systems. In this paper we
investigate the concept of certainty in quantum mechanics. Particularly, we
show how the probability-1 predictions derived from pure quantum states
highlight a fundamental difference between our Bayesian approach, on the one
hand, and Copenhagen and similar interpretations on the other. We first review
the main arguments for the general claim that probabilities always represent
degrees of belief. We then argue that a quantum state prepared by some physical
device always depends on an agent's prior beliefs, implying that the
probability-1 predictions derived from that state also depend on the agent's
prior beliefs. Quantum certainty is therefore always some agent's certainty.
Conversely, if facts about an experimental setup could imply agent-independent
certainty for a measurement outcome, as in many Copenhagen-like
interpretations, that outcome would effectively correspond to a preexisting
system property. The idea that measurement outcomes occurring with certainty
correspond to preexisting system properties is, however, in conflict with
locality. We emphasize this by giving a version of an argument of Stairs [A.
Stairs, Phil. Sci. 50, 578 (1983)], which applies the Kochen-Specker theorem to
an entangled bipartite system.Comment: 20 pages RevTeX, 1 figure, extensive changes in response to referees'
comment
Embedding agents in business applications using enterprise integration patterns
This paper addresses the issue of integrating agents with a variety of
external resources and services, as found in enterprise computing environments.
We propose an approach for interfacing agents and existing message routing and
mediation engines based on the endpoint concept from the enterprise integration
patterns of Hohpe and Woolf. A design for agent endpoints is presented, and an
architecture for connecting the Jason agent platform to the Apache Camel
enterprise integration framework using this type of endpoint is described. The
approach is illustrated by means of a business process use case, and a number
of Camel routes are presented. These demonstrate the benefits of interfacing
agents to external services via a specialised message routing tool that
supports enterprise integration patterns
Stochastic Shortest Path with Energy Constraints in POMDPs
We consider partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) with a
set of target states and positive integer costs associated with every
transition. The traditional optimization objective (stochastic shortest path)
asks to minimize the expected total cost until the target set is reached. We
extend the traditional framework of POMDPs to model energy consumption, which
represents a hard constraint. The energy levels may increase and decrease with
transitions, and the hard constraint requires that the energy level must remain
positive in all steps till the target is reached. First, we present a novel
algorithm for solving POMDPs with energy levels, developing on existing POMDP
solvers and using RTDP as its main method. Our second contribution is related
to policy representation. For larger POMDP instances the policies computed by
existing solvers are too large to be understandable. We present an automated
procedure based on machine learning techniques that automatically extracts
important decisions of the policy allowing us to compute succinct human
readable policies. Finally, we show experimentally that our algorithm performs
well and computes succinct policies on a number of POMDP instances from the
literature that were naturally enhanced with energy levels.Comment: Technical report accompanying a paper published in proceedings of
AAMAS 201
Agent-Based Models and Simulations in Economics and Social Sciences
Now that complex Agent-Based Models and computer simulations spread over economics and social sciences - as in most sciences of complex systems -, epistemological puzzles (re)emerge. We introduce new epistemological concepts so as to show to what extent authors are right when they focus on some empirical, instrumental or conceptual significance of their model or simulation. By distinguishing between models and simulations, between types of models, between types of computer simulations and between types of empiricity obtained through a simulation, section 2 gives the possibility to understand more precisely - and then to justify - the diversity of the epistemological positions presented in section 1. Our final claim is that careful attention to the multiplicity of the denotational powers of symbols at stake in complex models and computer simulations is necessary to determine, in each case, their proper epistemic status and credibility.Agent-Based Models and Simulations ; Epistemology ; Economics ; Social Sciences ; Conceptual Exploration ; Model World ; Credible World ; Experiment ; Denotational Hierarchy
Higher-level Knowledge, Rational and Social Levels Constraints of the Common Model of the Mind
In his famous 1982 paper, Allen Newell [22, 23] introduced the notion of knowledge level to
indicate a level of analysis, and prediction, of the rational behavior of a cognitive articial agent.
This analysis concerns the investigation about the availability of the agent knowledge, in order
to pursue its own goals, and is based on the so-called Rationality Principle (an assumption
according to which "an agent will use the knowledge it has of its environment to achieve its
goals" [22, p. 17]. By using the Newell's own words: "To treat a system at the knowledge level
is to treat it as having some knowledge, some goals, and believing it will do whatever is within
its power to attain its goals, in so far as its knowledge indicates" [22, p. 13].
In the last decades, the importance of the knowledge level has been historically and system-
atically downsized by the research area in cognitive architectures (CAs), whose interests have
been mainly focused on the analysis and the development of mechanisms and the processes
governing human and (articial) cognition. The knowledge level in CAs, however, represents
a crucial level of analysis for the development of such articial general systems and therefore
deserves greater research attention [17]. In the following, we will discuss areas of broad agree-
ment and outline the main problematic aspects that should be faced within a Common Model
of Cognition [12]. Such aspects, departing from an analysis at the knowledge level, also clearly
impact both lower (e.g. representational) and higher (e.g. social) levels
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