Towards Automating the Evolution of Linguistic Competence in Artificial Agents

Reference: Gmytrasiewicz, P. J., Gopal, D. (2000). Technical article, University of Texas at Arlington. Source file: Towards_Automating_the_Evolution_of_Linguistic_Com.pdf. URL

Summary

Gmytrasiewicz and Gopal propose a decision-theoretic framework for artificial agents to autonomously enrich and evolve their shared agent communication language. Each agent has a frame/object-based knowledge representation language (KRL) encoding beliefs about the world and nested beliefs about other agents. Decisions about which messages to send are grounded in expected-utility computations over the effect on the hearer’s mental state, so every well-defined message carries measurable value to the speaker.

When the ACL proves inadequate to express content the agent wishes to communicate, the agents engage in game-theoretic negotiation (after Rubinstein-style alternating offers) over new lexicon items and grammatical rules. Utilities trade off implementation cost, time-discounting, and communicative gain. The framework thus gives a concrete mechanism for pidgin-like emergence of shared ACLs among rational, knowledge-based agents.

Key Ideas

• KRL as agents’ “language of thought”; ACL is a translation target.
• Message value = expected-utility impact on hearer’s mental state.
• Negotiation over lexicon and grammar when ACL is insufficient.
• Nested agent models enable rational communication choices.
• Decision-theoretic, game-theoretic grounding for language emergence.

Connections

• Agent Communication Languages
• Multi-Agent Systems
• Speech Act Theory
• Language Workbenches
• Negotiation
• Emergent Communication
• Mental State

Conceptual Contribution

• Claim: The content and extension of an agent communication language can be derived from rational-decision principles: every message carries measurable expected utility, and when the current ACL is insufficient, agents rationally negotiate new lexicon and grammar.
• Mechanism: Each agent has a frame-based KRL representing nested beliefs about others; message utility is computed as the expected change in the hearer’s mental state weighed against action value. When no existing ACL expression suffices, Rubinstein-style alternating-offers bargaining over new lexicon items and grammar rules trades off implementation cost, time-discount, and future communicative gain, producing a pidgin-like convergence path.
• Concepts introduced/used: Knowledge Representation Language, Expected Utility Communication, Rubinstein Bargaining, Nested Beliefs, Lexicon Negotiation, Pidgin Emergence, Decision-Theoretic ACL
• Stance: formal-semantic
• Relates to: Provides a decision-theoretic counterpart to the situated emergence of Language Games for Autonomous Robots and the neural emergence studied in On the Pitfalls of Measuring Emergent Communication; its utility-grounded messages contrast with the mentalistic sincerity conditions of Agent-Oriented Programming and FIPA-ACL.

Tags

#acl-evolution #decision-theory #negotiation #language-emergence