1,720,974 research outputs found
Timed Concurrent Language for Argumentation
No full textArgumentation Theory offers formalisms for the study of reasoning processes taking place between intelligent entities. In this context, time is a crucial factor: in a real-world environment, activities have a determined temporal duration and the behaviour of agents is influenced by the actions previously taken. While agent-based modelling languages naturally implement concurrency and time constraints, the currently available languages for argumentation do not allow to explicitly model this type of behaviours. In this paper, we propose a language for modelling concurrent interaction between agents that also allows the specification of temporal intervals in which particular actions occur. Such a language, that we call Timed Concurrent Language for Argumentation, allows agents to communicate with each other and to reason on the acceptability of their beliefs with respect to a given time interval. We also show how Timed Abstract Argumentation Frameworks can be modelled by combining time and concurrency
Timed Concurrent Language for Argumentation: An Interleaving Approach
No full textTime is a crucial factor in modelling dynamic behaviours of intelligent agents: in a real-world environment, activities have a determined temporal duration and the behaviour of agents is influenced by the actions previously taken. In this paper, we propose a language for modelling concurrent interaction between agents that also allows the specification of temporal intervals in which particular actions occur. Such a language exploits a timed version of Abstract Argumentation Frameworks to realise a shared memory used by the agents both to communicate and to reason on the acceptability of their beliefs with respect to a given time interval. An interleaving model on a single processor is used for basic computation steps (with maximal parallelism for time elapsing). Following this approach, at each moment only one of the enabled agents is executed
On collecting semantics for program analysis
Full text linkReasoning on a complex system in the abstract interpretation theory starts with a formal description of the system behavior specified by a collecting semantics. We take the common point of view that a collecting semantics is a very precise semantics from which other abstractions may be derived. We elaborate on both the concepts of precision and derivability, and introduce a notion of adequacy which tell us when a collecting semantics is a good choice for a given family of abstractions. We instantiate this approach to the case of first-order functional programs by considering three common collecting semantics and some abstract properties of functions. We study their relative precision and give a constructive characterization of the classes of abstractions which are adequate for the collecting semantics
Concurrent Argumentation with Time: An Overview
No full textThe Timed Concurrent Language for Argumentation (tcla) is a framework to model concurrent interactions between communicating agents that reason and take decisions through argumentation processes, also taking into account the temporal duration of the performed actions. Time is, indeed, a crucial factor when dealing with dynamic environments in real-world applications, where agents need to act in a coordinated fashion to reach their own goals. In this paper, we discuss the syntax and the operational semantics of tcla, providing insights on how its constructs can be used to realise complex interactions between agents
Modelling Dialogues in a Concurrent Language for Argumentation
No full textIn the fast-growing area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the ability of autonomous agents to engage in complex debates is crucial for consensus building on beliefs, actions, or goals and forms the basis for applications in decision-making, planning, opinion polling, and negotiation. In this paper, we leverage the Timed Concurrent Language for Argumentation, a modelling language derived from concurrent programming paradigms and Argumentation Theory, to introduce well-known high-level propositions (claim, counter, why, argue, concede, and retract) to model various debate forms, making it a powerful tool for agent interaction. The obtained constructs, specifically designed for multi-agent reasoning and the facilitation of argumentation, define the dialogue language DICLA (DIalogic Concurrent Language for Argumentation) that enables domain experts to employ advanced computational argumentation tools without needing programming skills, bridging the gap between theoretical argumentation models and practical, real-world applications
On the Role of Local Arguments in the (Timed) Concurrent Language for Argumentation
No full textModelling the behaviour of concurrent agents that interact and reason in a dynamic environment is a difficult task. It requires tools that can effectively capture different types of interactions, such as persuasion and deliberation, while helping agents make decisions or reach agreements. This paper proposes a revised and extended version of the (timed) concurrent language for argumentation, better suited for modelling real-world scenarios. Our focus is on private information: we have given each agent a local argumentation store for reasoning with private knowledge. With this feature, agents can use the argumentation engine to implement courses of action based on their personal information and only disclose the bare minimum. Finally, we present an application example that models a privacy-preserving multi-agent decision-making process to demonstrate the capabilities of our language
On the Need for a Common API for Abstract Domains of Object-Oriented Programs
No full textIn the last years almost all families of programming languages, from imperative to functional, logic, object-oriented and machine code, have been subject to static analysis by abstract interpretation. The use of a principled approach to static analysis based on the theory of abstract interpretation provided mathematical tools to reason about program properties and allowed for the rigorous and incremental design of precise and scalable static analyzers, ensuring soundness by construction. The large variety of abstract domains for many different programming languages, the ability to combine and refine them with standard abstract interpretation tools and the availability of mature abstract domain libraries allowed easily porting, reusing and experimenting with techniques born in a specific family to other programming languages and properties. Since the use of abstract interpretation for the analysis of object-oriented languages is less common than in other application fields of static analysis, in order to increase its adoption, we advocate the need to establish a common interface for designing and implementing abstract domains for the static analysis of Java-like programs. This interface should allow developing abstract domains pluggable in a generic abstract interpreter, as it is customary, for example, in abstract interpretation-based static analysis of numerical properties
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