8,427 research outputs found

    Nonstrict hierarchical reinforcement learning for interactive systems and robots

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    Conversational systems and robots that use reinforcement learning for policy optimization in large domains often face the problem of limited scalability. This problem has been addressed either by using function approximation techniques that estimate the approximate true value function of a policy or by using a hierarchical decomposition of a learning task into subtasks. We present a novel approach for dialogue policy optimization that combines the benefits of both hierarchical control and function approximation and that allows flexible transitions between dialogue subtasks to give human users more control over the dialogue. To this end, each reinforcement learning agent in the hierarchy is extended with a subtask transition function and a dynamic state space to allow flexible switching between subdialogues. In addition, the subtask policies are represented with linear function approximation in order to generalize the decision making to situations unseen in training. Our proposed approach is evaluated in an interactive conversational robot that learns to play quiz games. Experimental results, using simulation and real users, provide evidence that our proposed approach can lead to more flexible (natural) interactions than strict hierarchical control and that it is preferred by human users

    Multi Agent Systems in Logistics: A Literature and State-of-the-art Review

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    Based on a literature survey, we aim to answer our main question: “How should we plan and execute logistics in supply chains that aim to meet today’s requirements, and how can we support such planning and execution using IT?†Today’s requirements in supply chains include inter-organizational collaboration and more responsive and tailored supply to meet specific demand. Enterprise systems fall short in meeting these requirements The focus of planning and execution systems should move towards an inter-enterprise and event-driven mode. Inter-organizational systems may support planning going from supporting information exchange and henceforth enable synchronized planning within the organizations towards the capability to do network planning based on available information throughout the network. We provide a framework for planning systems, constituting a rich landscape of possible configurations, where the centralized and fully decentralized approaches are two extremes. We define and discuss agent based systems and in particular multi agent systems (MAS). We emphasize the issue of the role of MAS coordination architectures, and then explain that transportation is, next to production, an important domain in which MAS can and actually are applied. However, implementation is not widespread and some implementation issues are explored. In this manner, we conclude that planning problems in transportation have characteristics that comply with the specific capabilities of agent systems. In particular, these systems are capable to deal with inter-organizational and event-driven planning settings, hence meeting today’s requirements in supply chain planning and execution.supply chain;MAS;multi agent systems

    Astrobiology and Society in Europe Today

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    This book describes the state of astrobiology in Europe today and its relation to the European society at large. With contributions from authors in more than 20 countries and over 30 scientific institutions worldwide, the document illustrates the societal implications of astrobiology and the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to European society. The book has two main objectives: 1. It recommends the establishment of a European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) as an answer to a series of challenges relating to astrobiology but also European research, education, and society at large. 2. It also acknowledges the societal implications of astrobiology, and thus the role of the social sciences and humanities in optimizing the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to the lives of the people of Europe and the challenges they face

    Affordable Generative Agents

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    The emergence of large language models (LLMs) has significantly advanced the simulation of believable interactive agents. However, the substantial cost on maintaining the prolonged agent interactions poses challenge over the deployment of believable LLM-based agents. Therefore, in this paper, we develop Affordable Generative Agents (AGA), a framework for enabling the generation of believable and low-cost interactions on both agent-environment and inter-agents levels. Specifically, for agent-environment interactions, we substitute repetitive LLM inferences with learned policies; while for inter-agent interactions, we model the social relationships between agents and compress auxiliary dialogue information. Extensive experiments on multiple environments show the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed framework. Also, we delve into the mechanisms of emergent believable behaviors lying in LLM agents, demonstrating that agents can only generate finite behaviors in fixed environments, based upon which, we understand ways to facilitate emergent interaction behaviors. Our code is publicly available at: \url{https://github.com/AffordableGenerativeAgents/Affordable-Generative-Agents}
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