AGENTS Heather Nodler INF 385Q - Knowledge Management Systems Dr. Don Turnbull April 26, 2005

Definition Agents -Autonomous software processes that interact with users and with each other according to certain conventions -Assist users with information gathering and other processes -Sometimes called “bots”

Why Agents? In the Internet age, agents help users cope with ever-increasing amounts of information and work.

Some Requirements Technical Processes must flow smoothly and accurately Social Users need sense of control Users’ privacy must be maintained Users must be able to see/change actions taken by agents

How Agents Work Knowledge-based - Interface agent endowed with knowledge of a specific application and a specific user or set of users Learning - Autonomous agent performs tasks like a personal assistant, learning user’s behavior through observation and communication with other agents

Agents That Learn Advantages Require minimum background knowledge Program themselves, are more dynamic Increase in reliability over time, gain user trust Can get help from other agents to deal with specific user tasks Assist in transfer of knowledge among users in a group

Agents That Learn Disadvantages Use of application requires a good deal of repetitive behavior Can create privacy issues, especially when agents share info with each other Lack subtlety of human judgement/behavior Agents can exhibit imperfect behavior, especially early on Users might have overblown expectations “Cold start” problem

Examples of Learning Agents handling applications Meeting scheduling agents Electronic news filtering agents Entertainment recommender systems Online dating systems Other applications

The Easy Bee

Agent Utopia Will serve as social equalizers, giving full support staff to people who couldn’t afford it otherwise Will make our lives easier Will grow smarter, more effective, and will be entrusted with more critical information Everything will be transparent

Agent Dystopia Will create conflicts/confusion Will invade users’ privacy Will allow more code-savvy users to deceive/take advantage of others Will take the human element out of processes that benefit from some error (e.g., markets) Will create overstandardization

Questions for Discussion To what extent do you use/trust agents now? Examples? What will agents of the future do? How can agents be applied in KM? Are some some things too important to be entrusted to agents?