Computing Reviews
Today's Issue Hot Topics Search Browse Recommended My Account Log In
Review Help
Search
Intelligent internet-based multiagent systems
Blackstock B. In Intelligent exploration of the web. Heidelberg, Germany,  Physica-Verlag GmbH,  2003. Type:Book Chapter
Date Reviewed: Nov 19 2003

An interesting application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, notably ontologies, to a difficult information retrieval problem--the search of legal databases by nonexperts--is presented in this paper. Contrary to what the title might suggest, the paper is neither a general study of Internet-based multiagent systems, nor a discussion of methodological issues concerning multiagent systems. The author claims, however, that the particular implementation he describes is an example of a useful application of agent technology to a complex problem. The main weakness of the paper is that no compelling evidence is presented that might justify this claim.

Although the system architecture includes interface agents, LawBots, and proactive agents, it is hard to see why these could not simply be described as modules, rather than agents. The usage of the term agent in AI is somewhat moot. In its most useful form, it is connected to the practice of ascribing propositional attitudes, such as beliefs and intentions, to machines, in order to better understand the machine’s structure, its behavior, or how to repair or improve it [1]. The paper makes no such ascription. Instead, it uses the term agent to suggest that its components have other properties often associated with intelligent agents, namely: flexibility, responsiveness to changes, and autonomy. The usefulness of ascribing these much more vague properties to a system is debatable. There are objectively measurable attributes, such as precision and recall, that could have been used to assess, for example, the extent to which ontologies improve information retrieval. Unfortunately, the paper does not discuss these attributes.

Reviewer:  Saturnino Luz Review #: CR128598 (0403-0347)
1) McCarthy, J. Ascribing mental qualities to machines. TechnicalMemo326, Stanford University AI Lab 1979.
Bookmark and Share
  Featured Reviewer  
 
Multiagent Systems (I.2.11 ... )
 
 
Web-Based Services (H.3.5 ... )
 
 
Online Information Services (H.3.5 )
 
 
Computers In Other Systems (J.7 )
 
Would you recommend this review?
yes
no
Other reviews under "Multiagent Systems": Date
Engineering intelligent hybrid multi-agent systems
Khosla R., Dillon T. (ed), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, 1998. Type: Book (9780792399827)
Aug 1 1998
Linguistic geometry: from search to construction
Stilman B., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, 2000.  395, Type: Book (9780792377382)
Jan 1 2001
 Transactional agents: towards a robust multi-agent system
Nagi K., Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New York, NY, 2002.  205, Type: Book (9783540430469)
Apr 13 2004
more...

E-Mail This Printer-Friendly
Send Your Comments
Contact Us
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.   Copyright 1999-2024 ThinkLoud®
Terms of Use
| Privacy Policy