Computational Logics and Agents: A Roadmap of Current Technologies and Future Trends

The concept of an agent is increasingly used in contemporary software applications, particularly those involving the Internet, autonomous systems, or cooperation. However, with dependability and safety in mind, it is vital that the mechanisms for representing and implementing agents are clear and consistent. Hence there has been a strong research effort directed at using formal logic as the basis for agent descriptions and agent implementation. Such a logical basis not only presents the clarity and consistency required but also allows for important techniques such as logical verification to be applied. We present a roadmap of research into the use of computational logic in agent-based systems and survey much of the recent work in these areas. Even though, with such a rapidly changing field, it is impossible to cover every development, we aim to give the reader sufficient background to understand the current research problems and potential future developments in this maturing area.