Page 26 - Socially Intelligent Agents Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots

Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots 9

In chapter 12 David Pynadath and Milind Tambe report their experience
in using a system of electronic assistants, in particular focusing on teams of
agents operating in a real-world human organization. Their experience lead
them to abandon a decision tree approach and instead adopt a more adaptive
model that reasons about the uncertainty, costs, and constraints of decisions.
They call this approach adjustable autonomy because the agents take into ac-
count the potential bad consequences of their action when deciding to take
independent action, much as an employee might check critical decisions with
her boss. The resulting system now assists their research group in reschedul-
ing meetings, choosing presenters, tracking people’s locations, and ordering
meals.
Edmund Chattoe is a sociologist who uses agent-based computational sim-
ulation as a tool. In chapter 13 he argues that rather than basing the design of
our agent systems upon a priori design principles (e.g. from philosophy) we
should put considerable effort into collecting information on human society.
He argues that one factor hindering realization of the potential of MAS (multi-
agent systems) for social understanding is the neglect of systematic data use
and appropriate data collection techniques. He illustrates this with the exam-
ple of innovation diffusion and concludes by pointing out the advantages of
MAS as a tool for understanding social processes.

The following 20 chapters can be thematically grouped into five sections
which describe how Socially Intelligent Agents are being implemented and
used in a wide range of practical applications. This part shows how Socially
Intelligent Agents can contribute to areas where social interactions with hu-
mans are a necessary (if not essential) element in the commercial success and
acceptance of an agent system. The chapters describe SIA systems that are
used for a variety of different purposes, namely as therapeutic systems (section
2.4), as physical instantiations of social agents, namely social robots (section
2.5), as systems applied in education and training (section 2.6), as artifacts
used in games and entertainment (section 2.7), and for applications used in
e-commerce (section 2.8).

2.4 Interactive Therapeutic Agent Systems

Interactive computer systems are increasingly used in therapeutic contexts.
Many therapy methods are very time- and labor-extensive. Computer soft-
ware can provide tools that allow children and adults likewise to learn at their
own pace, in this way taking some load off therapists and parents, in partic-
ular with regard to repetitive teaching sessions. Computer technology is gen-
erally very ‘patient’ and can easily repeat the same tasks and situations over
and over again, while interaction and learning histories can be monitored and