Page 57 - Socially Intelligent Agents Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots

40 Socially Intelligent Agents

itself by comparing its own and others’ actions (including communica-
tive acts). The richness of the language allows a relatively fine-grained
transference of models of other’s decision making processes onto itself.

7 Once it starts to model itself it quickly becomes good at this due to the
high amount of direct data it has about itself. This model is primarily
constructed in its language and so is accessible to introspection.

8 It refines its model of other agents using its self-model, attempting pre-
dictions of their actions based on what it thinks it would do in similar
circumstances.

9 Simultaneously it refines its self-model from further observations of other’s
actions. Thus its model of other’s and its own cognition co-evolve.

10 Since the model of its own decisions are made through language, it uses
language production to implement a sort of high-level decision mak-
ing process - this appears as a language of thought. The key points are
that the basic decision making process are not experienced; the agent
models others’ decision making using their utterances as fine-grained
indications of their mental states (including intentions etc.); and finally
that the agent models itself by applying its model of others to itself (and
vice versa). This seems to be broadly compatible with the summary of
thinking on the language of thought [2].

4. General Consequences of this Model of Self
Construction
The important consequences of this model are:

The fact that models of other agent and self-models are co-developed
means that many basic assumptions about one’s own cognition can be
safely projected to another’s cognition and vice versa. This can form the
basis for true empathetic relationships.

The fact that an expressive language has allowed the modelling of others
and then of its self means that there is a deep association of self-like
cognition with this language.

Communication has several sorts of use: as a direct action intended to ac-
complish some goal; as an indication of another’s mental state/process;
as an indication of one’s own mental state/process; as an action designed
to change another’s mental state/process; as an action designed to change
one’s own mental state/process; etc.