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Future software will not merely respond to requests for information, but will anticipate the users needs and actively seek ways to support the user. These systems will also manage cooperation among distributed programs. To describe the many roles of such software, researchers use the term "agent."The essays in "Software Agents," by leading researchers and developers of agent-based systems, address both the state-of-the-art of agent technology and its likely evolution in the near future. The introductory chapters in Part I present the views of proponents and a critic of software agents. The chapters in Part II describe how agents are used to enhance learning and provide intelligent assistance to users in situations where traditional direct manipulation interfaces alone are insufficient. The chapters of Part III discuss agent-to-agent communication and the use of agents to provide intelligent interoperability in distributed systems and the Internet.Contributors: JosA(c)-Luis Ambite, Ball, P. Benoit, Guy A. Boy, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Philip Cohen, Allen Cypher, S. Dutfield, Thomas Erickson, Tim Finin, Michael R. Genesereth, Kenneth R. Grant, Craig A. Knoblock, Kurlander, Yannis Labrou, Kum-Yew Lai, Brenda Laurel, Hector J. Levesque, Ling, Pattie Maes, Thomas W. Malone, James Mayfield, Miller, Nicholas Negroponte, Donald A. Norman, Pugh, Doug Riecken, Ben Shneiderman, Yoav Shoham, Skelly, David C. Smith, Jim Spohrer, Stankosky, Thiel, Van Dantzich, Wax, James E. White, J. Woolley."Distributed for AAAI Press."
List of contents
Part 1 Agents and the user experience: how might people interact with agents, Donald A. Norman; agents - from direct manipulation to delegation, Nicholas Negroponte; interface agents - metaphors with character, Brenda Laurel; designing agents as if people mattered, Thomas Erickson; direct manipulation versus agents - paths to predictable, controllable and comprehensible interfaces, Ben Schneiderman. Part 2 Agents for learning and intelligent assistance: agents for information sharing and coordination - a history and some reflections, Thomas W. Malone et al; agents that reduce work and information overload, Pattie Maes; KidSim - programming agents without a programming language, David C. Smith et al; lifelike computer characters - the persona project at Microsoft Research, Gene Ball et al; software agents for cooperative learning, Guy A. Boy; M - an architecture of integrated agents, Doug Riecken. Part 3 Agent communication, collaboration and mobility: an overview of agent-oriented programming, Yoav Shoham; KQML as an agent communication language, Tim Finin et al; an agent-based framework for interoperability, Michael R. Genesereth; agents for information gathering, Craig A. Knoblock and Jose-Luis Ambite; KAoS - toward an industrial-strength open agent architecture, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw et al; communicative actions for artificial agents, Philip R. Cohen and Hector J. Levesque; mobile agents, James E. White.
Summary
Future software that not only responds to requests for information but also anticipate's the users needs is termed "agent". This text addressess current issues in agent technology and the likely evolution of such technology in the near future.
