Is it an Agent, or just a Program?: A Taxonomy for Autonomous Agents

Document Type: 
Article
Article Type: 
Other
Disciplines: 
Artificial intelligence
Topics: 
Other
Date of Issue: 
1996
Authors: 
Stan Franklin, Art Graesser
Event Dates: 
1996
Event Title: 
Third International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages
Journal/Publication Title: 
Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages
Number of Pages: 
10
Official URL: 
http://ccrg.cs.memphis.edu/assets/papers/Is%20it%20an%20Agent,%20or%20just%20a%20Program%20-%20A%20Taxonomy.htm
Publish status: 
Published
Abstract: 
The advent of software agents gave rise to much discussion of just what such an agent is, and of how they differ from programs in general. Here we propose a formal definition of an autonomous agent which clearly distinguishes a software agent from just any program. We also offer the beginnings of a natural kinds taxonomy of autonomous agents, and discuss possibilities for further classification. Finally, we discuss subagents and multiagent systems.
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AgentOrProgram.pdf324.46 KB