Integration of psychological models in the design of artificial creatures

Artificial creatures form an increasingly important component of interactive computer games. Examples of such creatures exist which can interact with each other and the game player and learn from their experiences. However, we argue, the design of the underlying architecture and algorithms has to a large extent overlooked knowledge from psychology and cognitive sciences. We explore the integration of observations from studies of motivational systems and emotional behaviour into the design of artificial creatures. An initial implementation of our ideas using the “sim agent” toolkit illustrates that physiological models can be used as the basis for creatures with animal like behaviour attributes. The current aim of this research is to increase the “realism” of artificial creatures in interactive game-play, but it may have wider implications for the development of AI

Agents for educational games and simulations

This book consists mainly of revised papers that were presented at the Agents for Educational Games and Simulation (AEGS) workshop held on May 2, 2011, as part of the Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference in Taipei, Taiwan. The 12 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers are organized topical sections on middleware applications, dialogues and learning, adaption and convergence, and agent applications

Towards Learning ‘Self’ and Emotional Knowledge in Social and Cultural Human-Agent Interactions

Original article can be found at: http://www.igi-global.com/articles/details.asp?ID=35052 Copyright IGI. Posted by permission of the publisher.This article presents research towards the development of a virtual learning environment (VLE) inhabited by intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) and modeling a scenario of inter-cultural interactions. The ultimate aim of this VLE is to allow users to reflect upon and learn about intercultural communication and collaboration. Rather than predefining the interactions among the virtual agents and scripting the possible interactions afforded by this environment, we pursue a bottomup approach whereby inter-cultural communication emerges from interactions with and among autonomous agents and the user(s). The intelligent virtual agents that are inhabiting this environment are expected to be able to broaden their knowledge about the world and other agents, which may be of different cultural backgrounds, through interactions. This work is part of a collaborative effort within a European research project called eCIRCUS. Specifically, this article focuses on our continuing research concerned with emotional knowledge learning in autobiographic social agents.Peer reviewe

Emotion, deliberation, and the skill model of virtuous agency

A recent skeptical challenge denies deliberation is essential to virtuous agency: what looks like genuine deliberation is just a post hoc rationalization of a decision already made by automatic mechanisms (Haidt 2001; Doris 2015). Annas’s account of virtue seems well-equipped to respond: by modeling virtue on skills, she can agree that virtuous actions are deliberation-free while insisting that their development requires significant thought. But Annas’s proposal is flawed: it over-intellectualizes deliberation’s developmental role and under-intellectualizes its significance once virtue is acquired. Doing better requires paying attention to a distinctive form of anxiety—one that functions to engage deliberation in the face of decisions that automatic mechanisms alone cannot resolve

The use of emotions in the implementation of various types of learning in a cognitive agent

Les tuteurs professionnels humains sont capables de prendre en considération des événements du passé et du présent et ont une capacité d'adaptation en fonction d'événements sociaux. Afin d'être considéré comme une technologie valable pour l'amélioration de l'apprentissage humain, un agent cognitif artificiel devrait pouvoir faire de même. Puisque les environnements dynamiques sont en constante évolution, un agent cognitif doit pareillement évoluer et s'adapter aux modifications structurales et aux phénomènes nouveaux. Par conséquent, l'agent cognitif idéal devrait posséder des capacités d'apprentissage similaires à celles que l'on retrouve chez l'être humain ; l'apprentissage émotif, l'apprentissage épisodique, l'apprentissage procédural, et l'apprentissage causal. Cette thèse contribue à l'amélioration des architectures d'agents cognitifs. Elle propose 1) une méthode d'intégration des émotions inspirée du fonctionnement du cerveau; et 2) un ensemble de méthodes d'apprentissage (épisodique, causale, etc.) qui tiennent compte de la dimension émotionnelle. Le modèle proposé que nous avons appelé CELTS (Conscious Emotional Learning Tutoring System) est une extension d'un agent cognitif conscient dans le rôle d'un tutoriel intelligent. Il comporte un module de gestion des émotions qui permet d'attribuer des valences émotionnelles positives ou négatives à chaque événement perçu par l'agent. Deux voies de traitement sont prévues : 1) une voie courte qui permet au système de répondre immédiatement à certains événements sans un traitement approfondis, et 2) une voie longue qui intervient lors de tout événement qui exige la volition. Dans cette perspective, la dimension émotionnelle est considérée dans les processus cognitifs de l'agent pour la prise de décision et l'apprentissage. L'apprentissage épisodique dans CELTS est basé sur la théorie du Multiple Trace Memory consolidation qui postule que lorsque l'on perçoit un événement, l'hippocampe fait une première interprétation et un premier apprentissage. Ensuite, l'information acquise est distribuée aux différents cortex. Selon cette théorie, la reconsolidation de la mémoire dépend toujours de l'hippocampe. Pour simuler de tel processus, nous avons utilisé des techniques de fouille de données qui permettent la recherche de motifs séquentiels fréquents dans les données générées durant chaque cycle cognitif. L'apprentissage causal dans CELTS se produit à l'aide de la mémoire épisodique. Il permet de trouver les causes et les effets possibles entre différents événements. Il est mise en œuvre grâce à des algorithmes de recherche de règles d'associations. Les associations établies sont utilisées pour piloter les interventions tutorielles de CELTS et, par le biais des réponses de l'apprenant, pour évaluer les règles causales découvertes. \ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : agents cognitifs, émotions, apprentissage épisodique, apprentissage causal

Building machines that learn and think about morality

Lake et al. propose three criteria which, they argue, will bring artificial intelligence (AI) systems closer to human cognitive abilities. In this paper, we explore the application of these criteria to a particular domain of human cognition: our capacity for moral reasoning. In doing so, we explore a set of considerations relevant to the development of AI moral decision-making. Our main focus is on the relation between dual-process accounts of moral reasoning and model-free/model-based forms of machine learning. We also discuss how work in embodied and situated cognition could provide a valu- able perspective on future research

Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author

The question motivating this review paper is, how can computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn- ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory, and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in- teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that, as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency. Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip- ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in- teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity