Human-Agent Communication

Agent-based systems are potentially extremely powerful, but agent properties such as autonomy and proactivity raise significant challenges for usability. This paper argues that too little attention is being paid to human-agent communication from the user's perspective. To justify the aspirations of agent designers, fundamental usability questions must be addressed more systematically than is currently the case. The paper outlines some of the problems that are foreseen, and surveys some of the many research activities currently underway that will contribute to eventual solutions. Introduction Agents, software and hardware, are currently one of the hot topics in computer science and software engineering. They are the focus of much innovative research, and a certain measure of speculative hyperbole, not all of which can be justified. Our group at HP Labs in Bristol is investigating the application of agent technology to electronic commerce, specifically buying and selling over the Inter..