The last edition of CLIMA, held in 2001 in Paphos (Cyprus) ended with a panel session on the role of Computational Logic (CL) in Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). At the time of this new edition of CLIMA, while the debate about the role of CL in MAS is still open, from within the CL community we are witnessing a growth of interest for Multi-Agent Systems considered per se as an interesting cognitive model. The multi-agent metaphor of intelligent individuals that are situated into dynamic and unpredictable environments and that can interact with each other by updating their beliefs, can be regarded as the basis for a new symbolic model of cognition.
The purpose of this panel session includes exchanging opinions about the reasons why this new model is interesting, along with discussing the problems that it brings about. Some questions will warm up the discussion:
If we intend to adopt this new paradigm for Computational Logic, what are the choices that we ought to do? What new assumptions should we make, and on the other hand, how could we accommodate these new features in our background? Also, from an architecture viewpoint, what do you see as the future for agent models? Will we get to a comprehensive implementation of a BDI agent or is this a utopia? What simplifications to the model can be considered acceptable in a realistic application?
Logics and Multi-agents: towards a new symbolic model
of cognition