Motivating Agents in Unreliable Environments: A Computational Model

Patrick Krümpelmann, Matthias Thimm, Gabriele Kern-Isberner, Regina Fritsch

Abstract: The development of formal models for rational agents is mainly driven by the well-established BDI approach which divides an agent’s mental state into beliefs, desires, and intentions. In this paper, we argue that motivation as well has to be taken into account in order to allow for a flexible and proactive behavior of intelligent agents in unreliable environments. In our approach, motives take the role of describing an agent’s personality and are the driving force for creating desires and abandoning previously selected goals. We investigate the relationships between motives and their associated desires as well as the impact brought about by the uncertainty and unreliability of the environment.