Evolving the best-response strategy to decide when to make a proposal

Abstract-This paper designed and developed negotiation agents with the distinguishing features of 1) conducting continuous time negotiation rather than discrete time negotiation, 2) learning the response times of trading parties using Bayesian learning and, 3) deciding when to make a proposal using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) to evolve their best-response proposing time strategies for different negotiation environments and constraints. Results from a series of experiments suggest that 1) learning trading parties' response times helps agents achieve more favorable trading results, and 2) on average, when compared with SSAs (Static Strategy Agents), BRSAs (Best-Response proposing time Strategy Agents) achieved higher average utilities, higher success rates in reaching deals, and smaller average negotiation time

Towards a more natural and intelligent interface with embodied conversation agent

Conversational agent also known as chatterbots are computer programs which are designed to converse like a human as much as their intelligent allows. In many ways, they are the embodiment of Turing's vision. The ability for computers to converse with human users using natural language would arguably increase their usefulness. Recent advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in general have advances this field in realizing the vision of a more humanoid interactive system. This paper presents and discusses the use of embodied conversation agent (ECA) for the imitation games. This paper also presents the technical design of our ECA and its performance. In the interactive media industry, it can also been observed that the ECA are getting popular

Choosing and using methodological search filters : searchers' views

© 2014 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2014 Health Libraries Group.Peer reviewedPostprin

Evaluating Social Innovation

The philanthropic sector has been experimenting with innovative grantmaking in the hopes of triggering significant and sustainable change. FSG's latest research report, collaboratively written with the Center for Evaluation Innovation, challenges grantmakers to explore the use of Developmental Evaluation when evaluating complex, dynamic, and emergent initiatives

Bargaining Outcomes as the Result of Coordinated Expectations: An Experimental Study of Sequential Bargaining

Experimental studies of two-person sequential bargaining demonstrate that the concept of subgame perfection is not a reliable point predictor of actual behavior. Alternative explanations argue that 1) fairness influences outcomes and 2) that bargainer expectations matter and are likely not to be coordinated at the outset. This paper examines the process by which bargainers in two-person dyads coordinate their expectations on a bargaining convention and how this convention is supported by the seemingly empty threat of rejecting positive but small subgame perfect offers. To organize the data from this experiment, we develop a Markov model of adaptive expectations and bounded rationality. The model predicts actual behavior quite closely.Sequential Bargaining, Experiment, Convention, Fairness, Finite Markov Chain, Bounded Rationality

Next Gen Philanthropy: finding the path between tradition and innovation

This guide offers a series of questions that every next generation donor should carefully consider, as well as recommendations based on the past experiences of other next gen donors. It is not designed to tell you what to do or how to think. On the contrary, it starts from the assumption that you are the captain of your destiny when it comes to philanthropy. The goal is to inspire you to dream and consider new possibilities, to plan what joy in giving might look like. Written for emerging philanthropists and for those who are established but considering a slight-to-massive makeover, we want to reveal the potential -- as well as the challenges -- of giving. And we want to do it from the fresh perspective of what some people call the next generation: those who must decide how to honor the legacy of the past while creating a legacy of their own

Governance for sustainability: learning from VSM practice

Purpose – While there is some agreement on the usefulness of systems and complexity approaches to tackle the sustainability challenges facing the organisations and governments in the twenty-first century, less is clear regarding the way such approaches can inspire new ways of governance for sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to progress ongoing research using the Viable System Model (VSM) as a meta-language to facilitate long-term sustainability in business, communities and societies, using the “Methodology to support self-transformation”, by focusing on ways of learning about governance for sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – It summarises core self-governance challenges for long-term sustainability, and the organisational capabilities required to face them, at the “Framework for Assessing Sustainable Governance”. This tool is then used to analyse capabilities for governance for sustainability at three real situations where the mentioned Methodology inspired bottom up processes of self-organisation. It analyses the transformations decided from each organisation, in terms of capabilities for sustainable governance, using the suggested Framework. Findings – Core technical lessons learned from using the framework are discussed, include the usefulness of using a unified language and tool when studying governance for sustainability in differing types and scales of case study organisations. Research limitations/implications – As with other exploratory research, it reckons the convenience for further development and testing of the proposed tools to improve their reliability and robustness. Practical implications – A final conclusion suggests that the suggested tools offer a useful heuristic path to learn about governance for sustainability, from a VSM perspective; the learning from each organisational self-transformation regarding governance for sustainability is insightful for policy and strategy design and evaluation; in particular the possibility of comparing situations from different scales and types of organisations. Originality/value – There is very little coherence in the governance literature and the field of governance for sustainability is an emerging field. This piece of exploratory research is valuable as it presents an effective tool to learn about governance for sustainability, based in the “Methodology for Self-Transformation”; and offers reflexions on applications of the methodology and the tool, that contribute to clarify the meaning of governance for sustainability in practice, in organisations from different scales and types

A Man’s Right to Choose His Surname in Marriage: A Proposal

[...] a brief history of marital and naming practices will outline how these two concepts have shifted to a primarily private issue today, as compared with the Middle Ages, when they were primarily public issues highly concerned with property matters. [...] naming involves important issues in the construction of one\u27s identity