Negotiation Protocols and Dialogue Games
Mehdi M. Dastani, Joris Hulstijn, Leendert van der Torre, Artificial Intelligence, De Boelelaan A, HV Amsterdam · 2000
INTRODUCTION Multi-agent activities often require negotiation. We propose a way to construct exible negotiation protocols, based on dialogue games, originally developed for the description of human dialogue [1]. The rules of a dialogue game function as a recipe for joint action. A particular type of a dialogue game, an initiative-response pair, denes minimal well-formed interactions [6]. From such basic exchanges larger dialogues can be constructed coherently. The notion of `uptake' [2] is crucial in this respect. By making an initiative, an agent invites other participants to respond in a particular way. An initiative is often ambiguous. There are dierent ways the responder can take up the challenge. Thus the interaction is jointly determined by the participants. 2. FLEXIBLE NEGOTIATION For each agent a negotiation is dened by a protocol { the rules of interaction { and a strategy { a directive for deciding between dieren