Intelligent Agents revisited

What is an Intelligent Agent An agent is a tool that carries out tasks on behalf of a human user What is the difference between an agent and a conventional (non-intelligent) program?

Properties of Intelligent Agents Intelligence Autonomy Ability to Learn

Intelligence An intelligent agent possesses domain knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to solve its problems more efficiently Ability to reason about its knowledge is essential

Autonomy Autonomy is the ability to act independently of the human user’s instructions Autonomy depends largely on the ability to reason, plan, and learn

Ability to Learn Learning enables an agent to solve problems it has not previously faced, and to learn from past experience. Learn both concepts and actions

Ability to Learn Learn from the environment based on feed back of how successful the agent is Reinforcement learning: based on evaluation functions Learn by instruction: the user provides the feedback Evolutionary learning: neural networks and genetic algorithms

Other Properties Co-Operation: interaction between agents. Versatility: ability to carry out a range of different tasks. Benevolence: helpfulness to other agents and people. Veracity: tendency to tell the truth. Mobility: ability to move about in the Internet or another network (or the real world).

Types of agents Simple reflex agents – almost no reasoning abilities Agents that keep track of the world – have memory Goal-based agents – have goals Utility-based agents – can evaluate their performance

Simple Reflex Agents External world IF Condition Action THEN

Agents with Memory THEN External world Memory IF Condition Action

Agents with Goals Goals Condition IF THEN Choose a rule

Utility-Based Agents Goals Condition IF THEN Choose a rule Utility function

Robotic Agents Robotic agents exist in the real world Robots operate in a stochastic, inaccessible environment Robots must also be able to deal with large numbers of other agents (such as humans) and other complicating factors. Robots must deal with change and uncertainty well.

Robotic Autonomous Agents Knowledge and reasoning Planning Learning Vision abilities Language understanding

Multi-Agent Systems Agents work together to achieve a common goal Agents in multi-agent systems usually have the ability to communicate and collaborate with each other.

Applications Software agents for information processing Industrial robots Social robots