Abstract
The importance of more precise (non-metaphorical) social notions (such as norms) in Distributed Artificial Intelligence has long been emphasised. Co-ordination and common problem-solving among agents could require equivalents to social norms as they can be observed in human societies. However, these phenomena should not be intentional or planned but “emergent”. This paper investigates social norms for co-operative agents from a sociological point of view. It outlines how sociological theory defines social norms, explains their emergence in human societies and explores the extent to which empirical social research has been successful in verifying their efficacy. It then suggests concepts of norms and norm processing that could either be used for planned implementation or for identifying the equivalents of social norms among cooperative agents. Finally, it assesses how DAI and sociology could profit from each other’s research in norms.
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Saam, N.J. (2001). Social Norms for Co-Operative Agents. In: Saam, N.J., Schmidt, B. (eds) Cooperative Agents. Theory and Decision Library, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1177-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1177-7_4
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