The influence of gossip and reputation on a business process oriented multi-agent system
Dariusz Skorupka, Mariusz Żytniewski, Stanisław Stanek · AIP conference proceedings · 2018
The construction of business process oriented agent systems involves the development of mechanisms to support their management and monitoring. One of the theories that can be used to address the task is the concept of gossip focusing on agents’ behaviors in relation to knowledge sharing taking place in a multi-agent system. The autonomy that software agents enjoy in performing their operations means that they are able to propagate false information and hence compromise the system’s health. An indicator that can be deployed to prevent this from happening is an agent’s reputation regarding the gossip that it spreads. Once such an indicator is implemented in an agent system, the reputation of an agent can be used by the system as a factor in making decisions about each agent’s credentials and, consequently, its continued presence in the system. The aim of the paper is to investigate the possibility of employing an indicator of gossip reputation in a software agent society to improve its operation. In its first part, the paper discusses selected elements of the gossip theory, to subsequently determine what knowledge is shared in the system and to propose an indicator for measuring an agent’s reputation. Further, the article provides an account of a relevant scientific experiment and delivers conclusions derived from it.