Cristiano Castelfranchi

Bio: Cristiano Castelfranchi is an academic researcher from National Research Council. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cognition & Autonomous agent. The author has an hindex of 54, co-authored 294 publications receiving 12312 citations. Previous affiliations of Cristiano Castelfranchi include University of Siena & Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli.

Principles of trust for MAS: cognitive anatomy, social importance, and quantification

Abstract: After arguing about the crucial importance of trust for Agents and MAS, we provide a definition of trust both as a mental state and as a social attitude and relation. We present the mental ingredients of trust: its specific beliefs and goals, with special attention to evaluations and expectations. We show the relation between trust and the mental background of delegation. We explain why trust is a bet, and implies some risks, and analyse the most basic forms of non-social trust (reliance on objects and tools) to arrive at the more complex forms of social trust, based on morality and reputation. Finally we present a principled quantification of trust, based on its cognitive ingredients. And use this "degree of trust" as the basis for a rational decision to delegate or not to another agent. The paper is intended to contribute both to the conceptual analysis and to the practical use of trust in social theory and MAS.

Cognitive and social action

Abstract: This monograph addresses the worlds of social science theory and artificial intelligence AI The book examines the interaction of individual cognitive factors and social influence on human action and discusses the implications for developments in artificial intelligence; This book is intended for graduate and research level artificial intelligence and social science theory including sociology, economics, psychology

Trust Theory: A Socio-Cognitive and Computational Model

Abstract: This book provides an introduction, discussion, and formal-based modelling of trust theory and its applications in agent-based systems This book gives an accessible explanation of the importance of trust in human interaction and, in general, in autonomous cognitive agents including autonomous technologies. The authors explain the concepts of trust, and describe a principled, general theory of trust grounded on cognitive, cultural, institutional, technical, and normative solutions. This provides a strong base for the authors discussion of role of trust in agent-based systems supporting human-computer interaction and distributed and virtual organizations or markets (multi-agent systems). Key Features: Provides an accessible introduction to trust, and its importance and applications in agent-based systems Proposes a principled, general theory of trust grounding on cognitive, cultural, institutional, technical, and normative solutions. Offers a clear, intuitive approach, and systematic integration of relevant issues Explains the dynamics of trust, and the relationship between trust and security Offers operational definitions and models directly applicable both in technical and experimental domains Includes a critical examination of trust models in economics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and AI This book will be a valuable reference for researchers and advanced students focused on information and communication technologies (computer science, artificial intelligence, organizational sciences, and knowledge management etc.), as well as Web-site and robotics designers, and for scholars working on human, social, and cultural aspects of technology. Professionals of ecommerce systems and peer-to-peer systems will also find this text of interest.

Social trust: a cognitive approach

Abstract: As it was been written in the call of the original workshop “In recent research on electronic commerce” trust has been recognized as one of the key factors for successful electronic commerce adoption In electronic commerce problems of trust are magnified, because agents reach out far beyond their familiar trade environments Also it is far from obvious whether existing paper-based techniques for fraud detection and prevention are adequate to establish trust in an electronic network environment where you usually never meet your trade partner face to face, and where messages can be read or copied a million times without leaving any trace With the growing impact of electronic commerce distance trust building becomes more and more important, and better models of trust and deception are needed One trend is that in electronic communication channels extra agents, the so called Trusted Third Parties, are introduced in an agent community that take care of trust building among the other agents in the network But in fact different kind of trust are needed and should be modelled and supported: trust in the environment and in the infrastructure (the socio-technical system); trust in your agent and in mediating agents; trust in the potential partners; trust in the warrantors and authorities (if any)

Machine learning

Abstract: Machine Learning is the study of methods for programming computers to learn. Computers are applied to a wide range of tasks, and for most of these it is relatively easy for programmers to design and implement the necessary software. However, there are many tasks for which this is difficult or impossible. These can be divided into four general categories. First, there are problems for which there exist no human experts. For example, in modern automated manufacturing facilities, there is a need to predict machine failures before they occur by analyzing sensor readings. Because the machines are new, there are no human experts who can be interviewed by a programmer to provide the knowledge necessary to build a computer system. A machine learning system can study recorded data and subsequent machine failures and learn prediction rules. Second, there are problems where human experts exist, but where they are unable to explain their expertise. This is the case in many perceptual tasks, such as speech recognition, hand-writing recognition, and natural language understanding. Virtually all humans exhibit expert-level abilities on these tasks, but none of them can describe the detailed steps that they follow as they perform them. Fortunately, humans can provide machines with examples of the inputs and correct outputs for these tasks, so machine learning algorithms can learn to map the inputs to the outputs. Third, there are problems where phenomena are changing rapidly. In finance, for example, people would like to predict the future behavior of the stock market, of consumer purchases, or of exchange rates. These behaviors change frequently, so that even if a programmer could construct a good predictive computer program, it would need to be rewritten frequently. A learning program can relieve the programmer of this burden by constantly modifying and tuning a set of learned prediction rules. Fourth, there are applications that need to be customized for each computer user separately. Consider, for example, a program to filter unwanted electronic mail messages. Different users will need different filters. It is unreasonable to expect each user to program his or her own rules, and it is infeasible to provide every user with a software engineer to keep the rules up-to-date. A machine learning system can learn which mail messages the user rejects and maintain the filtering rules automatically. Machine learning addresses many of the same research questions as the fields of statistics, data mining, and psychology, but with differences of emphasis. Statistics focuses on understanding the phenomena that have generated the data, often with the goal of testing different hypotheses about those phenomena. Data mining seeks to find patterns in the data that are understandable by people. Psychological studies of human learning aspire to understand the mechanisms underlying the various learning behaviors exhibited by people (concept learning, skill acquisition, strategy change, etc.).

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Abstract: Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Intelligent Agents: Theory and Practice

Abstract: The concept of an agent has become important in both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mainstream computer science. Our aim in this paper is to point the reader at what we perceive to be the most important theoretical and practical issues associated with the design and construction of intelligent agents. For convenience, we divide these issues into three areas (though as the reader will see, the divisions are at times somewhat arbitrary). Agent theory is concerned with the question of what an agent is, and the use of mathematical formalisms for representing and reasoning about the properties of agents. Agent architectures can be thought of as software engineering models of agents;researchers in this area are primarily concerned with the problem of designing software or hardware systems that will satisfy the properties specified by agent theorists. Finally, agent languages are software systems for programming and experimenting with agents; these languages may embody principles proposed by theorists. The paper is not intended to serve as a tutorial introduction to all the issues mentioned; we hope instead simply to identify the most important issues, and point to work that elaborates on them. The article includes a short review of current and potential applications of agent technology.

Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community

Abstract: The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic