Here we describe an architecture for an intelligent distribution agent being designed for the Navy. This autonomous software agent will implement global workspace theory, a psychological theory of consciousness. As a result, it can be expected to react to novel and problematic situations in a more flexible, more human-like way than traditional AI systems. If successful, it will perform a function, namely billet assignment, heretofore reserved for humans. The architecture consists of a more abstract layer overlying a multi-agent system of small processors. The mechanisms implementing the architecture are quite varied and diverse, and are drawn mostly from the "new" AI. This paper is intended as a progress report.

This article puts research on socially intelligent agents (SIA) in the broader context of how humans (and other primates) perceive and interact with the social world. Phylogenetic (evolutionary) and ontogenetic (developmental) issues are discussed with respect to the social origin of primate and human intelligence and human culture. Implications for designing artifacts and for the evolvability of human societies are outlined. A theory of empathy is presented that is based on current research on the primate social brain. Research projects that investigate some of these issues are reviewed. I argue that Socially Intelligent Agents (SIA) research, although strongly linked to software and robotic engineering, goes beyond a software engineering paradigm: it can potentially serve as a paradigm for a science of social minds. A systematic and experimental investigation of human social minds and the way humans perceive the social world can result in truly social artifacts,...

Embodiment has become an important concept in many areas of cognitive science. There are, however, very different notions of exactly what embodiment is and what kind of body is required for what kind of embodied cognition. Hence, while many would agree that humans are embodied cognizers, there is much less agreement on what kind of artefact could be considered as embodied. This paper identifies and contrasts five different notions of embodiment which can roughly be characterized as (1) structural coupling between agent and environment, (2) historical embodiment as the result of a history of structural coupling, (3) physical embodiment, (4) `organismoid' embodiment, i.e. organism-like bodily form (e.g., humanoid robots), and (5) organismic embodiment of autopoietic, living systems. 1.

A framework for understanding and exploiting embodiment is presented which is not dependent on any specific ontological context. This framework is founded on a new definition of embodiment, based on the relational dynamics that exist between biological organisms and their environments, and inspired by the structural dynamics of the Escherichia coli bacteria. Recognition is given to the role played by physically instantiated bodies, but in such a way that this can be meaningfully abstracted within the constraints implied by the term 'embodiment', and applied in a variety of operational contexts. This is supported by ongoing experimental work in which the relational dynamics that exist between E. coli and its environment are applied in a variety of software environments, using Cellular Automata (CA) with artificial 'sensory' and 'effector' surfaces, producing qualitatively similar 'chemotaxic' behaviours in a variety of operational domains.

Abstract not found

I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Kazuhiko Kawamura, for his sage guidance and support. I would not have been able to compile this thesis without him, and he has provided me with insight and direction since the day I first started graduate school. I would also like to thank Dr. David Noelle and Dr. Mitch Wilkes for helping me learn that knowing how to ask the correct question in a tough situation is sometimes more important than finding its answer. Flo Fottrell deserves my thanks for helping me throughout my graduate career. She has assisted me in finding my way around the school, and always gives the right advice. Similarly, I would like to acknowledge my fellow students in the CIS for all their help, especially when it came to developing my Linux administrator skills. My parents receive my deepest gratitude for their rock-solid support and for instilling in me a love of knowledge, and my brother for teaching me humility of that knowledge. Finally, I would like to thank Shazi Jiang for standing beside me throughout my MS career. I couldn't have done it without her.

Abstract. This is a project on Artificial Life where we simulate an ecosystem that allows cooperative interaction between agents, including intra-specific predatorwarning communication in a virtual environment of predatory events. We propose, based on Peircean semiotics and informed by neuroethological constraints, an experiment to simulate the emergence of symbolic communication among artificial creatures. Here we describe the simulation environment and the creatures’ control architectures, and briefly present obtained results. Keywords: symbol, communication, artificial life, semiotics, C.S.Peirce 1

This paper outlines the foundation of a definition and measurement for the concept social presence. Justification for such a line of research lies in the ever-increasing use of social presence technologies and expansion of the social interactions across the Internet. A definition of social presence, based upon past literature and theory, describes several levels and dimensions of social presence by which the concept can be operationalized. Specifically, Level 1: co-presence is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for the sense of social presence. Level 2: the Subjective level, attempts to measure the psycho-behavioral accessibility of another interactant. Finally, Level 3: the Intersubjective level, assesses within and cross-interactant symmetry. The purposeful direction of this research and measurement construction is to enable researchers and designers to compare various mediated interactions as well as further theoretical inquiry. 2 1.

The paper deals with the research in the area of knowledge acquisition from multiple experts when knowledge includes temporal component. The expert’s ranking refinement technique is presented which is based on of the most supported opinion among all the experts. Paper answers to the following questions: how to derive the most supported knowledge from the multiple experts about the unknown temporal relation between the two events; how to make quality evaluation of the most supported opinion; how to make syntactical analysis of the most supported opinion to make necessary corrections; how to make, evaluate, use and refine ranking of all the experts to improve the results. 1.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 1 1.1. DYNAMICAL MODELS OF SENSORY FUSION 2 1.2. EMBODIED CATEGORY FORMATION 2 1.3. ACTION-ORIENTED REPRESENTATIONS 2 1.4. ONTOGENETIC DEVELOPMENT 3 2. SCIENTIFIC RELEVANCE 3 2.1. DYNAMICAL BRAIN MODELS 3 2.2. EMBODIED COGNITION 5 2.3. NEURAL DARWINISM 5 3. TECHNICAL APPROACH 6 3.1. PRINCIPLES OF COGNITIVE DYNAMICS 6 3.2. THE LIMBIC SYSTEM MODEL OF INTENTIONAL BEHAVIOR 8 3.3. SELECTIONAL MECHANISMS 9 3.4. VALUE SYSTEMS, PLASTICITY AND HOMEOSTATIC REGULATION 10 3.5. COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH 10 4. EXPECTED RESULTS 11 4.1. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN 11 4.2. MOTOR COORDINATION TASKS 11 4.3. REAL-TIME TASK ENVIRONMENTS 12 4.4. MOBILE ROBOTIC SIMULATORS 12 4.5. AUTONOMOUS AGENTS 13 5. REFERENCES 13 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN 16 7. COST PLAN 18 7.1. YEAR 1 18 SODAS - iii - 10/20/2000 7.4. SUMMARY 21 7.5. EXPLANATION 22 8. RESUMES 24 ROBERT KOZMA 25 STANLEY P. FRANKLIN 27 WALTER J. FREEMAN 29 DEREK HARTER 31 9. DECLARATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS 33 10. APPENDIX 34 10.1. CHAOTIC RESONANCE -- METHODS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ROBUST CLASSIFICATION OF NOISY AND VARIABLE PATTERNS 34 10.2. EMERGENCE OF UN-CORRELATED COMMON-MODE OSCILLATIONS IN THE SENSORY CORTEX 35 10.3. LOCAL-GLOBAL INTERACTIONS AND THE ROLE OF MESOSCOPIC (INTERMEDIATE-RANGE) ELEMENTS IN BRAIN DYNAMICS 36 List of Figures Figure 1 - KII scheme 7 Figure 2 - KIII model 8 Figure 3 - Limbic System 9 Figure 4 - Brain State Schematic 9 Abstract Biological organisms show an amazing ability during their ontogenetic development to adaptively develop strategies and solutions to the various problems of survival that their environments present to them. Dynamical and embodied models of cognition are beginning to offer new insights into how the numerous, heterogeneous elements of neur...