Algebras for Agent Norm-Regulation

An abstract architecture for idealized multi-agent systems whose behaviour is regulated by normative systems is developed and discussed. Agent choices are determined partially by the preference ordering of possible states and partially by normative considerations: The agent chooses that act which leads to the best outcome of all permissible actions. If an action is non-permissible depends on if the result of performing that action leads to a state satisfying a condition which is forbidden, according to the norms regulating the multi-agent system. This idea is formalized by defining set-theoretic predicates characterizing multi-agent systems. The definition of the predicate uses decision theory, the Kanger-Lindahl theory of normative positions, and an algebraic representation of normative systems.Comment: 25 page

An essay on msic-systems

A theory of many-sorted implicative conceptual systems (abbreviated msic-systems) is outlined. Examples of msic-systems include legal systems, normative systems, systems of rules and instructions, and systems expressing policies and various kinds of scientific theories. In computer science, msic-systems can be used in, for instance, legal information systems, decision support systems, and multi-agent systems. In this essay, msic-systems are approached from a logical and algebraic perspective aiming at clarifying their structure and developing effective methods for representing them. Of special interest are the most narrow links or joinings between different strata in a system, that is between subsystems of different sorts of concepts, and the intermediate concepts intervening between such strata. Special emphasis is put on normative systems, and the role that intermediate concepts play in such systems, with an eye on knowledge representation issues. In this essay, normative concepts are constructed out of descriptive concepts using operators based on the Kanger-Lindahl theory of normative positions. An abstract architecture for a norm-regulated multi-agent system is suggested, containing a scheme for how normative positions will restrict the set of actions that the agents are permitted to choose from

Towards automatisation of the Swedish property formation process:A structural and logical analysis of property subdivision

The ongoing digitalization of public administration and increased automation of legal decision-making bears promise to benefit citizens, businesses and other stakeholders through simpler and more efficient civil processes, and thus has great impact on the urban planning and building process. However, automation of decision-making that is directed or constrained by normative systems such as laws, regulations and policies, requires a detailed and accurate representation of these concepts and their constituent parts, and the domain to which they are applied. In this paper, we combine two perspectives on formalisation and classification of legal relations within the urban planning and building domain. In a cross-disciplinary fashion, we analyse and describe a small part of this domain at a higher level of abstraction and formalization using two different analysis instruments. Using these tools, we perform structural and conceptual as well as logical analyses of two specific snapshots of a fictitious property subdivision case in Sweden, focusing on the legal relations between different entities and parties involved in the specific situations. The structural analysis uses the Land Administration Domain Model ISO 19152:2012 standard formalism, and the logical analysis is based on the notion of atomic types of legal relations. We discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of the two tools regarding the formal representation of rights, restrictions and responsibilities of different parties in the land administration domain, as well as how the tools relate to each other and how they can be aligned. We thus take one step towards a deeper understanding of the domain, and identify areas for future research that may provide better conditions for efficient and transparent use of geospatial information, and automation of the property subdivision process and other related civil processes

How friends and non-determinism affect opinion dynamics

The Hegselmann-Krause system (HK system for short) is one of the most popular models for the dynamics of opinion formation in multiagent systems. Agents are modeled as points in opinion space, and at every time step, each agent moves to the mass center of all the agents within unit distance. The rate of convergence of HK systems has been the subject of several recent works. In this work, we investigate two natural variations of the HK system and their effect on the dynamics. In the first variation, we only allow pairs of agents who are friends in an underlying social network to communicate with each other. In the second variation, agents may not move exactly to the mass center but somewhere close to it. The dynamics of both variants are qualitatively very different from that of the classical HK system. Nevertheless, we prove that both these systems converge in polynomial number of non-trivial steps, regardless of the social network in the first variant and noise patterns in the second variant.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure