Social and psychological commitments in multiagent systems

Abstract

Commitment is a central concept in Artificial Intelligence (AI). At least two kinds of commitments can be identified that have been used in AI - the internal or psychological and the external or social. While the former has been explicit in AI theory, the latter has often been ignored (though it is given more importance in other disciplines, and indeed even in AI practice). The many roles of social commitment in AI are discussed within. It is argued that while social and psychological commitments are related, they must not be conflated with each other. In particular, thinking directly in terms of social commitments helps us avoid the infelicities of traditional theories of group action and intention.