Organized Anonymous Agents

Anonymity can be of great importance in distributed agent applications such as e-commerce & auctions. This paper proposes and analyzes a new approach for organized anonymity of agents based on the use of pseudonyms. A novel naming scheme is presented that can be used by agent platforms to provide automatic anonymity for all agents on its platform, or, alternatively, to provide anonymity on demand. The paper also introduces a new technique, based on the use of handles, that can be fully integrated in an agent platform. Performance measures for an anonymity service implemented for the AgentScape platform provides some insight in the overhead involved. 1

Designing Creativity

Is it possible to design for creativity? This is one of the most important research questions in AI and Design. This paper raises the question whether automated software agent design can be creative. Not only is the artefact dynamic in the sense that it adapts to its environment, it is also autonomous: an agent decides on its own when to be modified and by whom. An agent's functionality may evolve beyond the expectations of its designers and/or users resulting in very new, unique artefacts. Is this type of design creative? Is the process creative? The result? 1

Scalable Middleware Environment for Agent-Based Internet Applications

Abstract. The AgentScape middleware is designed to support deployment of agent-based applications on Internet-scale distributed systems. With the design of AgentScape, three dimensions of scalability are considered: size of distributed system, geographical distance between resources, and number of administrative domains. This paper reports on the AgentScape design requirements and decisions, its architecture, and its components.

Automated Servicing of Agents

Agents need to be able to adapt to changes in their environment. One way to achieve this, is to service agents when needed. A separate servicing facility, a multi-agent factory, is capable of automatically modifying agents. This paper discusses th

Designing Self-Modifying Agents

Agents need to be able to adapt to changes in their environment. One way to achieve this, is to provide agents with the ability of self-modification. Self-modification requires reflection and strategies with which new knowledge can be acquired, a necessary condition for creativity. This paper describes a knowledge-level model for the design of self-modifying agents and explores the feasibility of automatically designing self-modifying agents

Principles of Compositional Multi-agent System Development

A dedicated development method for multi-agent systems requires adequate means to describe the characteristics of agents and multi-agent systems. Compositional multi-agent system development is based on the principles process and knowledge abstraction, compositionality, reuse, specification and verification. Although the paper addreses these principles of compositional multi-agent system development from a generic perspective, some of the examples used to illustrate the notions discussed are taken from the compositional development method DESIRE