The agent programming language meta-APL

Abstract. We describe a novel agent programming language, Meta-APL, and give its operational semantics. Meta-APL allows both agent programs and their associated deliberation strategy to be encoded in the same programming language. We define a notion of equivalence between programs written in different agent programming languages based on the notion of weak bisimulation equivalence. We show how to simulate (up to this notion of equivalence) programs written in other agent programming languages by programs of Meta-APL. This involves translating both the agent program and the deliberation strategy under which it is executed into Meta-APL.

Future directions in agent programming

Agent programming is a subfield of Artificial Intelligence concerned with the development of intelligent autonomous systems that combine multiple capabilities, e.g., sensing, deliberation, problem-solving and action, in a single system. There has been considerable progress in both the theory and practice of agent programming since Georgeff & Rao’s seminal work on the Belief-Desire-Intention paradigm. However, despite increasing interest in the development of autonomous systems, applications of agent programming are currently confined to a small number of niche areas, and adoption of agent programming languages (APLs) in mainstream software development remains limited. In this paper, I argue that increased adoption of agent programming is contingent on being able to solve a larger class of AI problems with significantly less developer effort than is currently the case, and briefly sketch one possible approach to expanding the set of AI problems that can be addressed by APLs. Critically, the approach I propose requires minimal developer effort and expertise, and relies instead on expanding the basic capabilities of the language

An agent programming manifesto

There has been considerable progress in both the theory and practice of agent programming since Georgeff & Rao’s seminal work on the Belief-Desire-Intention paradigm. However, despite increasing interest in the development of autonomous systems, applications of agent programming are confined to a small number of niche areas, and adoption of agent programming languages in mainstream software development remains limited. This state of affairs is widely acknowledged within the community, and a number of reasons and remedies have been proposed. In this paper, I present an analysis of why agent programming has failed to make an impact that is rooted in the class of programming problems agent programming sets out to solve, namely the realisation of flexible intelligent behaviour in dynamic and unpredictable environments. Based on this analysis, I outline some suggestions for the future direction of agent programming, and some principles that I believe any successful future direction must follow

George vs. George vs. George: Commander-in-Chief Power

In responding to attacks on his handling of the broadly defined war on terror, President George W. Bush declared, As President and Commanderin- Chief, I have the constitutional responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country. Article II of the Constitution gives me that responsibility and the authority necessary to fulfill it. Days later, the Administration again invoked commander-in-chief powers upon signing a congressional measure to ban torture, warning that the executive branch shall construe the section in a manner consistent with the President\u27s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief\u27 and adding that situations may arise, especially in wartime, in which the President must act promptly under his constitutional grants of executive power and authority as Commander in Chief. What exactly are these commander-in-chief powers to which the President repeatedly refers