25.1-3, Reasoning About Rational Agents

Notes taken from 'Reasoning About Rational Agents' (2000), by Michael Wooldridge

1, Rational Agents

(Properties of Rational Agents, A Software Engineering Perspective, Belief-Desire-Intention Agents, Reasoning About Belief-Desire-Intention Agents, FAQ)

2, The Belief-Desire-Intention Model

(Practical Reasoning, Intentions in Practical Reasoning, Implementing Rational Agents, The Deliberation Process, Commitment Strategies, Intention Reconsideration, Mental States and Computer Programs)

3, Introduction to LORA

This logic (LORA: "Logic of Rational Agents") allows us to represent the properties of rational agents and reason about them in an unambiguous, well-defined way.

Like any logic, LORA has a syntax, a semantics, and a proof theory. The syntax of LORA defines a set of acceptable constructions known as well-formed formulaue (or just formulae). The semantics assign a precise meaning to every formula of LORA. Finally, the proof theory of LORA tells us some basic properties of the logic, and how we can establish properties of the logic.

The language of LORA combines four distinct components:

1. A first-order component, which is in essence classical first-order logic...
2. A belief-desire-intention component, which allows us to express the beliefs, desires, and intentions of agents within a system.
3. A temporal component, which allows us to represent the dynamic aspects of systems - how they vary over time.
4. An action component, which allows us to represent the actions that agents perform, and the effects of these actions.