On the outcomes of multiparty persuasion

Elise Bonzon , Nicolas Maudet (1)

1 SMA - Systèmes Multi-Agents

In recent years, several bilateral protocols regulating the exchange of arguments between agents have been proposed. When dealing with persuasion, the objective is to arbitrate among conflicting viewpoints. Often, these debates are not entirely predetermined from the initial situation, which means that agents have a chance to influence the outcome in a way that fits their individual preferences. This paper introduces a simple and intuitive protocol for multiparty argumentation, in which several (more than two) agents are equipped with argumentation systems. We further assume that they focus on a (unique) argument (or issue) —thus making the debate two-sided— but do not coordinate. We study what outcomes can (or will) be reached if agents follow this protocol. We investigate in particular under which conditions the debate is pre-determined or not, and whether the outcome coincides with the result obtained by merging the argumentation systems.

Domaines: Informatique [cs]

Elise Bonzon, Nicolas Maudet. On the outcomes of multiparty persuasion. Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems. Eighth International Workshop, ArgMAS 2011. Revised, Selected and Invited Papers., May 2011, Taipei, Taiwan. pp.86-101, ⟨10.1007/978-3-642-33152-7_6⟩. ⟨hal-01273221⟩