Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents August 2004 Chapter 25: Challenges and Extensions Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents – Munindar P. Singh and Michael N. Huhns, Wiley, 2005 © Singh & Huhns

Highlights of this Chapter Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents August 2004 Highlights of this Chapter Trust Ethics Coherence Benevolence Managing Privacy Key Challenges and Recommendations Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns © Singh & Huhns

When Would you Trust a Service? Has the right capabilities Understands your needs Follows legal contracts where specified Supports its organization or society Follows an ethics Behaves rationally Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Ethical Abstractions Deontological ethics Teleological ethics Consequentialism Duties Obligations Applying ethics Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Motivation Specifying agents who would act appropriately Distinguishing right from wrong Relates to legal, social, economic considerations Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Right and Good Right: that which is right in itself Good: that which is good or valuable for someone or for some end Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Deontological vs. Teleological Deontological theories Right trumps good Being good does not mean being right Ends do not justify means Teleological theories Good trumps right Something is right only if it maximizes the good Ends justify means Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Deontological Theories Constraints Negatively formulated Narrowly framed E.g., lying is not not-telling-the-truth Narrowly directed At an agent’s specific action and its explicitly identified consequences Not at the action by other means Not at implicit, even known, consequences Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Deontological Double Effect Distinguish intentional effects from foreseen consequences An action is not wrong unless the agent explicitly intends for it to do wrong Legitimizes inaction even when inaction has predictable (but unintended) effects Shut down bank ATM for diagnostics even if that might leave someone without cash Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Kant’s Categorical Imperative Universalizability: Acceptable outcomes if everyone applies the same “maxim” False promising is unacceptable, because if everyone did so, society would not function Respect for others (no lying or coercion) so they can consent An agent “maxim” is uncertainly inferred from its actions Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Teleological Theories Based on how actions satisfy various goals, not their intrinsic rightness Comparison-based Preference-based Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Consequentialism An agent should promote whatever values it adopts Actions are instrumental in the promotion Honor the values only if doing so promotes them Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Utilitarianism A moral action is one that is useful Must be good for someone Good may be interpreted as Pleasure: hedonism Preference satisfaction: microeconomic rationalism (assumes each agent knows its preferences) Interest satisfaction: welfare utilitarianism Aesthetic ideals: ideal utilitarianism Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Prima Facie Duties What agents need to decide actions are Not just universal principles (each can be stretched) Not just consequences But also a regard for their promises and duties Agents have prima facie duties to help others, keep promises, repay kindness,... No ranking among these Highly defeasible conclusions, e.g., steal food to feed kids Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Obligations Obligations are For deontological theories, those that are impermissible to omit For teleological theories, those that most promote good For contract-based theories, those that an agent accepts Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Asimov’s Laws of Robotics 0. A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. [Added after the following more famous laws] 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Applying Ethics: 1 The ethical theories are theories Of justification Not of deliberation An agent can decide what basic “value system” to use under any approach Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Applying Ethics: 2 The deontological theories (“right”) Are narrower Ignore practical considerations But are meant as incomplete constraints (out of all the right actions, the agent can choose any) The teleological theories (“good”) Are broader Include practical considerations But leave fewer options for the agent, who must always choose the best available alternative Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Applying Ethics: 3 The ethical approaches Are single-agent in orientation Implicitly encode other agents An explicitly multiagent ethics would be an interesting topic for study Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents August 2004 An Agent Should Act Benevolently Seeking the welfare of others Rationally, i.e., maximizing utility Consistent with its model of itself Predictably Consistent with its model of others’ beliefs about it Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns © Singh & Huhns

Benevolence: “A Mattress in the Road” Who will stop to pick it up? Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Example: Information Sharing Benevolent agents sharing information they have retrieved, filtered, and refined Utilitarian variant: Access to shared information based on contributions to it Collective Store World Wide Web... Query Agents Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Challenges and Recommendations Respect autonomy and heterogeneity Design rules for ontologies, business transactions, protocols, organizations, … Security and trust: difficult given openness Scalability Quality of service: application-specific and incorporating user needs User-centered requirements analysis and design Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns

Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents August 2004 Chapter 25 Summary SOC is about building systems in open environments SOC systems rely upon trust among components and people Technical work on trust: in progress Can ethics inspire abstractions for SOC? More responsive to human needs? Easier to govern? Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns © Singh & Huhns

Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents August 2004 To Probe Further Journals IEEE Internet Computing, http://computer.org/internet Journal of Web Semantics IEEE Transactions on Services Computing DAI-List-Request@engr.sc.edu Conferences Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems Business Process Managment Semantic Web Conference (ISWC) Service-Oriented Computing (ICSOC) Service Computing (SCC) Web Services (ICWS) World-Wide Web (WWW) Chapter 25 Service-Oriented Computing: Semantics, Processes, Agents - Munindar Singh and Michael Huhns © Singh & Huhns