Do You Speak Agents?

James Odell - June 19, 2000

Several important areas must be addressed before a rich and robust agent technology can exist. Currently, one of the most important areas for standardization is agent communication. If every designer developed a different means of communicating between agents, our agent systems would be worse than a tower of Babel. Not only would the content and meaning of a communication likely be different, but the means of communication could occur in a variety of ways. Agent mobility is also important if we wish to benefit from the relocation of agent processing. The issue of security must be addressed as well if we are to ensure that both the agents and their environment are free from danger. This section discusses each of these issues and indicates which standard services and specifications might support them.

Agent Communication Languages
When two people want to communicate, they need to choose a common language and interchange medium—though even then misunderstandings can occur. Agents, too, need a standard language and a set of conventions that support agents in identifying, connecting with, and exchanging information with other agents. However, for agents, it is even more important to minimize any possible misunderstandings; otherwise, our IT systems could get very confused. Agent communication languages (ACLs) enable agents to communicate in a clear …

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Do You Speak Agents?

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