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Argument Generation and Decision Process of Argumentation-Based Multi-Agent Negotiation in E-Commerce

Author: ZhangGe
Tutor: HuangTiYun；JiangGuoRui
School: Beijing University of Technology
Course: Management Science and Engineering
Keywords: Argumentation-based negotiation multi-agent negotiation negotiation in E-commerce Negotiation model Negotiation strategy
CLC: TP18
Type: PhD thesis
Year: 2011
Downloads: 210
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Abstract

Since 1990s, with the development of global economic and electronic commerce, the theory, approach and application of multi-agent based trade negotiation has attached increasing importance and improvement. In the field of multi-agent negotiation, although game theoretic and heuristic based approaches have produced sophisticated systems and are highly suitable for a wide range of applications, they have significant limitations: agents are not allowed to exchange any additional information other than what is expressed in proposal itself; and agents’utilities or preferences are usually assumed to be completely characterized prior to the interaction. However, in more complex negotiation situations, agents may have incomplete information, uncertain preferences, and inconsistent beliefs, which can be communicated and solved during negotiation. Argumentation-based negotiation is proposed to overcome the limitations of traditional approaches.In the recent 10 years, argumentation-based negotiation has drawn significant attention in distributed multi-agent negotiation systems research. But, for it is a cross area that covers a series of theories and practice, such as artificial intelligence, game theory, behavior theory, social psychology, and management science, the research has significant difficulty. Until now, the research in the field of ABN has still in its starting stage, and the current researches are mainly on the description of ABN frameworks, formalization of argument and logic reasoning. However, for a specific negotiation context, such as the ABN in the context of e-commerce, little research has been done in a systematic way to study that how argument can be applied to e-commerce.In this paper, we give our research view on how to apply argument in the context of multi-agent negotiation in the context of e-commerce, and have some study on the argument generation, negation decision process and conceding strategies. These studies can be a contribution to build a practical argumentation-based multi-agent negotiation system in e-commerce. The detailed research contents are as follows.The first is argumentation-based multi-agent negotiation system architecture in the context of e-commerce. On the basis of analysis of multi-agent trade negotiation system, system architecture is proposed in this paper. The proposed decision mode discusses when and what argument should be added into traditional multi-agent negotiation in E-commerce. The proposed system structure studies the negotiation process and system architecture, and builds the framework of negotiation system.The second is argument generation of argumentation-based negotiation in the context of e-commerce. In this paper, we propose a series of argument generation strategy and approach based on utility-evaluation, conflict-analysis and argument classification. In the approach, from argument goal generation to argument act generation, a hierarchical argument generation reasoning mechanism is addressed: in the first stage of argument goal generation, a utility evaluation model is applied to compare the negotiation goal with counterpart’s proposal, and then detect and analyze the conflict to generate argument goal; in the second stage of argument act generation, argument is divided into three types which are information argument, requiring argument, and impacting argument, and the generation and reasoning rules of these different types of argument are expounded in detail.The third is conceding strategy and model in the multi-agent argumentation-based negotiation oriented to E-commerce. How argument gives impact on original negotiation is a significant problem. Since conceding strategy is one of the critical decisions in traditional negotiation, we take our view to study how argument affects the original conceding strategy. In this paper, argument’s effect on conceding strategy are analyzed and modeled, and a time-constraint conceding strategy has been proposed, taking into account the influence of argument. Comparative experiments are done in several classical conceding modes to illustrate how argument gives effect on negotiation.The fourth is the system decision-making process and prototype realization of argumentation-based negotiation in the context of e-commerce. How negotiation process goes is a key problem in the research of how to apply argument into traditional multi-agent negotiation. In this paper, a detailed decision making process and information exchanging mechanism are discussed, and a state-machine based negotiation process controlling protocol and algorithm are proposed. At last, a prototype system of ABN in e-commerce are designed and realized.In this paper, how argumentation based negotiation approaches being applied in the context of traditional multi-agent e-commerce negotiation is studied and discussed in a systematic way. A relatively comprehensive ABN mode, approaches and architectures are built, and the research will contribute to the theory of argumentation-based negotiation application in e-commerce, and be beneficial to improve the intelligence and practicability of traditional multi-agent negotiation.

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