Probabilistic Consensus of the Blockchain Protocol

We introduce a temporal epistemic logic with probabilities as an extension of temporal epistemic logic. This extension enables us to reason about properties that characterize the uncertain nature of knowledge, like “agent a will with high probability know after time s same fact”. To define semantics for the logic we enrich temporal epistemic Kripke models with probability functions defined on sets of possible worlds. We use this framework to model and reason about probabilistic properties of the blockchain protocol, which is in essence probabilistic since ledgers are immutable with high probabilities. We prove the probabilistic convergence for reaching the consensus of the protocol

Coalition Logic for Specification and Verification of Smart Contract Upgrades

Postponed access: the file will be available after 2023-11-12It has been argued in the literature that logics for reasoning about strategic abilities, and in particular coalition logic (CL), are well-suited for verification of properties of smart contracts on a blockchain. Smart contracts, however, can be upgraded by providing a new version of a contract on a new block. In this paper, we extend one of the recent formalisms for reasoning about updating CL models with a temporal modality connecting a newer version of a model to the previous one. In such a way, we make a step towards verification of properties of smart contracts with upgrades. We also discuss some properties of the resulting logic and the complexity of its model checking problem.acceptedVersio

New Directions in Model Checking Dynamic Epistemic Logic

Dynamic Epistemic Logic (DEL) can model complex information scenarios in a way that appeals to logicians. However, its existing implementations are based on explicit model checking which can only deal with small models, so we do not know how DEL performs for larger and real-world problems. For temporal logics, in contrast, symbolic model checking has been developed and successfully applied, for example in protocol and hardware verification. Symbolic model checkers for temporal logics are very efficient and can deal with very large models. In this thesis we build a bridge: new faithful representations of DEL models as so-called knowledge and belief structures that allow for symbolic model checking. For complex epistemic and factual change we introduce transformers, a symbolic replacement for action models. Besides a detailed explanation of the theory, we present SMCDEL: a Haskell implementation of symbolic model checking for DEL using Binary Decision Diagrams. Our new methods can solve well-known benchmark problems in epistemic scenarios much faster than existing methods for DEL. We also compare its performance to to existing model checkers for temporal logics and show that DEL can compete with established frameworks. We zoom in on two specific variants of DEL for concrete applications. First, we introduce Public Inspection Logic, a new framework for the knowledge of variables and its dynamics. Second, we study the dynamic gossip problem and how it can be analyzed with epistemic logic. We show that existing gossip protocols can be improved, but that no perfect strengthening of "Learn New Secrets" exists

FinBook: literary content as digital commodity

This short essay explains the significance of the FinBook intervention, and invites the reader to participate. We have associated each chapter within this book with a financial robot (FinBot), and created a market whereby book content will be traded with financial securities. As human labour increasingly consists of unstable and uncertain work practices and as algorithms replace people on the virtual trading floors of the worlds markets, we see members of society taking advantage of FinBots to invest and make extra funds. Bots of all kinds are making financial decisions for us, searching online on our behalf to help us invest, to consume products and services. Our contribution to this compilation is to turn the collection of chapters in this book into a dynamic investment portfolio, and thereby play out what might happen to the process of buying and consuming literature in the not-so-distant future. By attaching identities (through QR codes) to each chapter, we create a market in which the chapter can ‘perform’. Our FinBots will trade based on features extracted from the authors’ words in this book: the political, ethical and cultural values embedded in the work, and the extent to which the FinBots share authors’ concerns; and the performance of chapters amongst those human and non-human actors that make up the market, and readership. In short, the FinBook model turns our work and the work of our co-authors into an investment portfolio, mediated by the market and the attention of readers. By creating a digital economy specifically around the content of online texts, our chapter and the FinBook platform aims to challenge the reader to consider how their personal values align them with individual articles, and how these become contested as they perform different value judgements about the financial performance of each chapter and the book as a whole. At the same time, by introducing ‘autonomous’ trading bots, we also explore the different ‘network’ affordances that differ between paper based books that’s scarcity is developed through analogue form, and digital forms of books whose uniqueness is reached through encryption. We thereby speak to wider questions about the conditions of an aggressive market in which algorithms subject cultural and intellectual items – books – to economic parameters, and the increasing ubiquity of data bots as actors in our social, political, economic and cultural lives. We understand that our marketization of literature may be an uncomfortable juxtaposition against the conventionally-imagined way a book is created, enjoyed and shared: it is intended to be

Pathway to Future Symbiotic Creativity

This report presents a comprehensive view of our vision on the development path of the human-machine symbiotic art creation. We propose a classification of the creative system with a hierarchy of 5 classes, showing the pathway of creativity evolving from a mimic-human artist (Turing Artists) to a Machine artist in its own right. We begin with an overview of the limitations of the Turing Artists then focus on the top two-level systems, Machine Artists, emphasizing machine-human communication in art creation. In art creation, it is necessary for machines to understand humans' mental states, including desires, appreciation, and emotions, humans also need to understand machines' creative capabilities and limitations. The rapid development of immersive environment and further evolution into the new concept of metaverse enable symbiotic art creation through unprecedented flexibility of bi-directional communication between artists and art manifestation environments. By examining the latest sensor and XR technologies, we illustrate the novel way for art data collection to constitute the base of a new form of human-machine bidirectional communication and understanding in art creation. Based on such communication and understanding mechanisms, we propose a novel framework for building future Machine artists, which comes with the philosophy that a human-compatible AI system should be based on the "human-in-the-loop" principle rather than the traditional "end-to-end" dogma. By proposing a new form of inverse reinforcement learning model, we outline the platform design of machine artists, demonstrate its functions and showcase some examples of technologies we have developed. We also provide a systematic exposition of the ecosystem for AI-based symbiotic art form and community with an economic model built on NFT technology. Ethical issues for the development of machine artists are also discussed

Cybersecurity of Digital Service Chains

This open access book presents the main scientific results from the H2020 GUARD project. The GUARD project aims at filling the current technological gap between software management paradigms and cybersecurity models, the latter still lacking orchestration and agility to effectively address the dynamicity of the former. This book provides a comprehensive review of the main concepts, architectures, algorithms, and non-technical aspects developed during three years of investigation; the description of the Smart Mobility use case developed at the end of the project gives a practical example of how the GUARD platform and related technologies can be deployed in practical scenarios. We expect the book to be interesting for the broad group of researchers, engineers, and professionals daily experiencing the inadequacy of outdated cybersecurity models for modern computing environments and cyber-physical systems

Cybersecurity of Digital Service Chains

This open access book presents the main scientific results from the H2020 GUARD project. The GUARD project aims at filling the current technological gap between software management paradigms and cybersecurity models, the latter still lacking orchestration and agility to effectively address the dynamicity of the former. This book provides a comprehensive review of the main concepts, architectures, algorithms, and non-technical aspects developed during three years of investigation; the description of the Smart Mobility use case developed at the end of the project gives a practical example of how the GUARD platform and related technologies can be deployed in practical scenarios. We expect the book to be interesting for the broad group of researchers, engineers, and professionals daily experiencing the inadequacy of outdated cybersecurity models for modern computing environments and cyber-physical systems

Computational Theory of Mind for Human-Agent Coordination

In everyday life, people often depend on their theory of mind, i.e., their ability to reason about unobservable mental content of others to understand, explain, and predict their behaviour. Many agent-based models have been designed to develop computational theory of mind and analyze its effectiveness in various tasks and settings. However, most existing models are not generic (e.g., only applied in a given setting), not feasible (e.g., require too much information to be processed), or not human-inspired (e.g., do not capture the behavioral heuristics of humans). This hinders their applicability in many settings. Accordingly, we propose a new computational theory of mind, which captures the human decision heuristics of reasoning by abstracting individual beliefs about others. We specifically study computational affinity and show how it can be used in tandem with theory of mind reasoning when designing agent models for human-agent negotiation. We perform two-agent simulations to analyze the role of affinity in getting to agreements when there is a bound on the time to be spent for negotiating. Our results suggest that modeling affinity can ease the negotiation process by decreasing the number of rounds needed for an agreement as well as yield a higher benefit for agents with theory of mind reasoning.</p

Media Infrastructures and the Politics of Digital Time

Digital media everyday inscribe new patterns of time, promising instant communication, synchronous collaboration, intricate time management, and profound new advantages in speed. The essays in this volume reconsider these outward interfaces of convenience by calling attention to their supporting infrastructures, the networks of digital time that exert pressures of conformity and standardization on the temporalities of lived experience and have important ramifications for social relations, stratifications of power, practices of cooperation, and ways of life. Interdisciplinary in method and international in scope, the volume draws together insights from media and communication studies, cultural studies, and science and technology studies while staging an important encounter between two distinct approaches to the temporal patterning of media infrastructures, a North American strain emphasizing the social and cultural experiences of lived time and a European tradition, prominent especially in Germany, focusing on technological time and time-critical processes