CFP "Socially Intelligent Agents" AAAI FSS97
Aaron Sloman
Call for Participation and Call for Contest Contributions
SOCIALLY INTELLIGENT AGENTS
AAAI Fall Symposium Series 1997, held at the Royal Sonesta Hotel
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 7-9, 1997
This symposium aims to focus on the issue of social expertise
which has been discussed previously in different research areas
like psychology, sociology, biology, artificial intelligence and
robotics. In particular, we wish to address the orgins and
development of social expertise with respect to the concrete
realization of an artificial system. This includes both the
external behavior and the internal cognitive and motivational
abilities of an agent.
The concepts discussed should include both software and hardware
agents, in both natural and synthetic environments. The
discussions focus on cross-technological concepts (excluding
those restricted to a specific hardware or software technology).
A social interaction game is planned for the second day of the
symposium. Heterogeneous groups with humans and software agents
will have to solve cooperatively a pregiven task. The game is
supposed to be a) a first step towards the development of a
methodology and contest for testing social expertise of
artificial agents, and b) an opportunity for human participants
to study and to learn strategies of social interaction "from
within", i.e. by being part of the social interaction game. In
addition to the game the symposium wants to provide the
opportunity to present a "Zoo" of artifacts showing interesting
social interaction skills.
A detailed description of the symposium, schedule and submission
instructions are given below (see also
http://arti.vub.ac.be/~kerstin/aaai-social.html.)
Important dates:
----------------
15 April 1997: Submissions due
15 May 1997: Notification of acceptance
22 August 1997: Final Copies for working notes
Please send contributions by fax, e-mail (ascii, not postscript!),
or a hardcopy to:
Kerstin Dautenhahn (chair)
The University of Reading
Department of Cybernetics
Whiteknights, PO Box 225
Reading, RG6 6AY
United Kingdom
Fax: +44 (0) 118-9318220
Tel: +44 (0) 118-9318219,
+44 (0) 118-9316372
E-mail: K.Daut...@cyber.reading.ac.uk
Organizing Committee:
---------------------
Michel Aube (Universite de Sherbrooke, Canada),
Joseph Bates (Carnegie Mellon University, USA),
Kerstin Dautenhahn (University of Reading, UK),
Philippe Gaussier (ENSEA, France),
Judith Masthoff (Institute for Perception Research,
The Netherlands, co-chair),
Chisato Numaoka (Sony Computer Science Laboratory - Paris,
France, co-chair),
Aaron Sloman (University of Birmingham, UK)
*** DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SYMPOSIUM ***
The symposium will analyze various forms of social interaction,
their functions and the preconditions that make them possible, in
both natural and synthetic agents, and in physical and software
environments. This includes studying the different types of
social expertise and their causes and consequences, along with
means of checking which agents have them.
The term "social" has become fashionable recently, describing
various kinds of interactions between "agents", comprising
artificial hardware and software agents as well as animals and
humans. Moreover, work on "social dynamics" often combines
approaches on different levels of abstraction and involves
different degrees of behavioral or cognitive complexity of the
agents which are studied. In robotics and multi-agent-systems the
term "social" is often used in a sociobiological interpretation,
based on game-theoretical concepts. Research on intelligent
software agents and artificial characters focuses more on aspects
of intelligence like personality, believability or emotions,
which some people regard as non-rational.
In all these different fields and applications the term "social"
is most often used with a very general, common sense meaning,
without providing a basis for the evaluation of "social
expertise".
This symposium aims to both enlarge and concretize the issue of
social expertise which has been discussed so far in different
research areas like psychology, sociology, biology, artificial
intelligence and robotics. In particular, we wish to address the
orgins and development of social expertise with respect to the
concrete realization of an artificial system. This includes both
the external behavior and the internal cognitive and motivational
abilities of an agent. The concepts discussed should include both
software and hardware artifacts. This means that the discussions
should focus on cross-technological concepts (excluding those
restricted to a specific hardware or software technology). This
general focus is necessary in order to find a common language
between participants from different fields.
We propose the following assumptions concerning social
expertise:
a) Social expertise in natural systems is normally linked to an
embodied agent situated in a concrete dynamic environment. The
complexity of human social behavior in such contexts is
correlated to the complexity of a human body and our ability to
perceive and produce subtle bodily changes, including facial
expression, posture and tone of voice.
Recently the development of electronic communication has shown
that rich social interaction is possible without direct physical
contact or mutual physical perception. The speed of electronic
communication enables a type of immediacy not previously
achievable by paper-based correspondence, and enables new forms
of interaction in which physical appearance and even gender of
participants have no role since they are not known to others. In
future, virtual reality environments may, like masked balls,
enrich the forms of social interactions in which people adopt
temporary personas linked to temporary physical characteristics.
Despite these variations in context there are common themes:
o Social expertise is learnt and shaped by a social environment
during the ontogeny and life-time of an agent.
o Genetic determinants can also play a role (e.g. in sexual
interactions, and parental protectiveness)
o Social expertise includes intellectual, motivational,
emotional and behavioral dimensions.
b) Although artificial agents are still far from the complexity
of natural sytems, future robots and software agents will need
to interact with each other, and with humans, using types of
social expertise that may begin to match human social
competence. For some purposes, e.g. in disembodied or
distributed agents, new forms of social interaction may be
developed.
Several questions for the design of socially intelligent agents
arise from these assumptions:
-> To what degree do artificial agents which communicate with
humans have to be human-like (e.g. possess a human-face,
mimic human speech or gestures and so on) in order to make them
socially acceptable to human societies? What if anything will
be lost by excluding such human physical characteristics?
-> What is the role of social, rational, and emotional intelligence
in social interactions? How much can, or should, social
interactions be based on "reactive" as opposed to
"deliberative" processes?
-> What forms of communication are adequate for specific social
interaction situations, comprising language (written or spoken)
or non-verbal communication (e.g. facial expressions, body
movements)?
-> What kind of sensory and motor competence (e.g. visual inputs,
sound inputs, tactile information, odor) is necessary for
successful social interactions of different kinds (e.g.
playing a ball game vs collaborating on a philosophical or
mathematical problem)?
-> How do social relationships develop?
How are individuals recognized?
What degree of sympathy or empathy of humans with artificial
devices is required? How many significantly different forms
of relationship are there? Are there some which are
essentially geared to fulfilment of functions (X and Y
collaborate on a common task, X and Y exchange goods or
services, X works for Y, etc.)? How many are judged
worthwhile in themselves (e.g. friendship, play)?
-> Is a common "social interface" possible which could be applied to
heterogeneous groups involving humans and artifacts?
* SOCIAL AGENTS AS A TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE *
Robotic and software systems which interact with each other and
with humans are a challenging technological as well as
scientific area of research.
The design and construction of intelligent agents has often been
seen as a technological problem (Technology in the sense of
constructing the system according to a specification, writing a
control program and evaluating the system).
With new physical hardware and engineering expertise we can
construct robots which interact in the physical world, with
other robots or with humans. These aspects are studied in the
field of robotics and in more recent approaches in
behavior-oriented robotics and artificial life. In these areas
the need to ground any kind of intelligent behavior in
sensori-motor skills of a single agent has become a dominant
focus of research. Approaches to collective intelligence study
how groups of robots can interact and cooperate in a specific
environment. Many of these approaches model collective behavior
of social insect societies, which is based on local,
"anonymous", "reactive", interactions without any individual
social relationships, though no existing robots can match the
complexity and sophistication of most insect communities.
It is an open question to what extent this research is too
narrow: based on restrictive assumptions about the basis of
human and animal intelligence, and omitting important aspects of
human intellectual competence. One question for the workshop is
the extent to which the assumptions need to be generalised, to
accommodate a wider variety of architectures for social agents.
In the area of service robotics some approaches study robotic
systems which should support humans while having long-term
contacts with humans. Such "social robots" in service
applications have to exhibit a minimum degree of social
expertise which allows them to interact with humans in a way
which is "natural" for unexperienced users. Research in this
field uses the term "symbiosis" to characterize human-robot
relationships. We need to investigate different classes of robot
services, including distinguishing those that require human-like
physical forms (e.g. surrogate mothers?) from those that don't
(e.g. intelligent aids for the blind or disabled).
In the case of software agents ("softbots", "intelligent
agents") we can distinguish the following cases.
(i) Sometimes the agent and its environment are physically
simulated, trying to capture all important aspects of the real
world and translating them to an artificial world. This is for
instance done in 3D simulation environments for robotic agents.
(ii) In some other cases the agent characters are implemented as
data structures and computational processes, and interaction and
communication is done by using abstract data protocols between
data structures and processes (see multi-agent systems).
(iii) In a third area software agents are designed as assistants
which the human user should work with, learn from, play with, or
simply enjoy. These agents have to exhibit a degree of
"personality" or "character" which makes them both believable
and acceptable by human users. Such an agent may be composed of
multiple data structures and ongoing concurrent processes.
Artificial agents and humans can also interact with each other
in virtual realities. Here, the design of a "social interface"
for software agents resembles those problems which designers of
"social robots" face, depending on the form of virtual reality
and its faithfulness to real physics.
In all cases one of the issues to be addressed is how far the
artificial agents and human agents need to share ontologies,
values and goals in order to be able to communicate.
Which implementation techniques may suffice in which contexts?
The goal cannot be simply to copy or mimic certain externally
perceivable aspects of human social interaction and
communication. The complexity (e.g. multi-modality) and variety
of human reactions and means of interaction make it unrealistic
to capture all potential behavioral reactions of humans in a
look-up table which the artificial agents only have to apply
properly in real-time. A "shallow" way of modelling could be
successful in very restricted areas of application, where the
search space of possible social interactions is small and where
the purpose of the interaction is narrowly constrained, e.g. in
some forms of entertainment. Instead, in real world and very
"open" systems, it seems to be necessary to analyze and
replicate mechanisms of animal (and human) social interaction
and social expertise, for instance the various perceptual,
motor, cognitive and motivational modules that coexist within an
individual and interact over time. This task involves trying to
find a common language for specifying and modelling social
behavior which is applicable across technologies and "species"
(including humans).
* SOCIAL AGENTS AND THE ORIGINS OF INTELLIGENCE AND COMMUNICATION *
Questions about the nature, origins and mechanisms of social
expertise form important topics in recent studies in
primatology, developmental psychology and sociology. There is
evidence that social interactions are the basis for the
development of a concept of person, learning socially and
ecologically relevant behaviors. Similarly, social agreement
processes are the basis for symbols, mathematical thinking
and abstract problem solving. In spite of different opinions on
its concrete role and importance, social intelligence is thought
to be one of the fundamental factors providing the origins of
intelligence in primate evolution. Others claim that more basic
forms of intelligence required for interaction with and
navigation in the physical environment underlie forms of social
competence and learning. At present we need to have an open mind
about directions of influence between social and individual
competences, until we have a deeper understanding of all the
options. Even if there is no straightforward way to transfer
knowledge about human behavior to the behavior of artificial
agents, the idea seems to be promising. Humans are supposed to
be that species where the most complex social interactions can
be found. Humans are social animals, this is one of their areas
of expertise which can be found across cultures and at every
ontogenetical stage. Moreover, neurological studies more and
more stress the tight interdependancy between emotions, social
expertise and human rational thinking.
* TOPICS *
The symposium will focus on studies in human-like social
behavior and expertise and on approaches to designing and
evaluating artificial systems which interact socially with
humans in an acceptable way.
This should cover at least the following topics which should be
discussed due to their phenomenology and biological function in
human social agents as well as their usefulness and
applicability for implementations of artificial social agents:
- Developmental aspects of social expertise, environmental
influences, social learning
- Genetic influences
- The role of the individual: how personality, character,
motivation, knowledge and cognitive mechanisms are
involved in social interactions
- A question of modality: Verbal and non-verbal communication
(How many different forms are there, and to what extend will
new technology supply new forms of communication?
- One-to-One communication, early stages of communication:
-recognition and identification of social interaction
partners,
-the role of internal mechanisms (motivational systems,
value systems, hormonal systems, emotional systems)
to setup a communication situation and keep it
going
- social bonding (attachment, friendship, etc.)
- Group dynamics: social interaction and communication in groups
of agents, one-to-many and many-to-many communication
- The role of social roles: Social interaction in hierarchical
situations (teacher-learner) versus collaborative
situations, self-organizing structures etc.
- related issues
* FORMAT OF THE SYMPOSIUM *
The first day of the symposium is intended to give an overview
to "socially intelligent agent" approaches from different
scientific fields such as software agents, robotics, psychology,
biology/anthropology. Relevant topics are e.g development and
learning of social expertise, the role of the individual
(personality, character, motivation, cognitive aspects),
modalities of interaction, social roles and groups dynamics.
A social interaction game is planned for the second day. The
symposium participants will be divided into
groups, each of which explores different rules and social
interaction strategies. The participants of each group are
given rules, specifying certain modes or styles of interaction.
A common goal, requiring negotiations and making commitments
between the group members, has to be accomplished by all
groups. The goals should not only be reached by the human
participants, following a set of social rules, alone. Instead,
software agents are allowed to enter the game. These agents
become engaged in the discussion, by their specific "social
style" therefore influencing the social interactions within the
whole group.
The game is supposed to be a) a first step towards the
development of a methodology and contest for testing the social
expertise of artificial agents b) an opportunity for human
participants to study and to learn strategies of social
interaction "from within", i.e. by being part of the social
interaction game. The outcome of the game is discussed in terms
of evaluation criteria, e.g. whether the goal has been reached,
duration of the interaction game. In addition to these
"external/objective" evaluation criteria the different groups
are also judged according to the subjective quality of the game
from the viewpoint of the participants (e.g. aggressiveness of
discussion, emotional reactions). The role and "social
quality" of the software agents should be discussed, e.g.
whether their contributions had been accepted by the human
participants and whether they played a constructive role in the
interaction game, e.g. in terms of whether they hindered or
constructively pushed forward the discussion. The groups
should report on things they have learnt, suggestions for future
research and evaluations of any software agents: e.g. their
robustness, believability, intelligence, flexibility, ability to
learn, ease of programming, etc. In the afternoon of the second
day a "Zoo" of agents can be explored by the participants.
Systems which cannot take part in the game mentioned above but
which show interesting aspects of social interaction can be
demonstrated.
The third day (until lunch) is intended for discussions, summary
and an outlook on the future of socially intelligent agents.
Schedule:
---------
*Friday, 7 November 1997: Background
9.00 Introduction
Session "Biology/Anthropology"
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Session "Psychology"
12.30 Lunch
2.00 Session "Software Agents"
3.30 Coffee Break
4.00 Session "Robotic Agents"
5.30 End of Sessions
evening Opening Reception
*Saturday, 8 November 1997: Social Games
9.00 Social Interaction Game I
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Social Interaction Game II
Discussions within groups
12.30 Lunch
2.00 The Social Agent Zoo 1
3.30 Coffee Break
4.00 The Social Agent Zoo 2
5.30 End of Sessions
evening Plenary
*Sunday, 9 November 1997:
9.00 Evaluation of the Social Games, What did we learn?
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Discussion, the future of socially intelligent agents
12.30 End of Symposium Series
Submission instructions
-----------------------
Anybody who wishes to attend the symposium should send a short
position paper (2 pages at maximum) describing his or her
specific interest in the symposium, giving pointers to work they
have been doing in the field of interest. The complete address
(e-mail, fax, tel. no) should be included. Potential
participants can actively shape the symposium by contributing a
software agent which can take part in the social interaction
game or bringing an interesting species (software system or
robot) for the "Zoo" of social agent systems. Participants who
like to adapt their system so that it can take part in the
social interaction game can ask for the rules at the
address mentioned below. Participants who like to contribute a
social agent system should give a description of their system
and indicate the requirements they need to setup the system. A
few participants will be asked to produce a contribution (not
more than 15 pages) to the final working notes. In addition to
contributing a software system or a paper for the working notes
volunteers are welcome to contribute to setting up the
social interaction game and help with the evaluation.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn k...@cyber.reading.ac.uk
Lecturer in Cybernetics fax: +44 (0) 118 931-8220
The University of Reading tel: +44 (0) 118 931-8219
Whiteknights, PO Box 225 or -6372
Reading, RG6 6AY
United Kingdom http://arti.vub.ac.be/~kerstin/home.html
===
--
Aaron Sloman, ( http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~axs )
School of Computer Science, The University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, England
EMAIL A.Sl...@cs.bham.ac.uk
Phone: +44-121-414-4775 (Sec 3711) Fax: +44-121-414-4281