Abstract
Multi-agent systems have been a core research topic in artificial intelligence for several decades. A multi-agent system consists of multiple decision-making agents – which may be software-based AI systems, physically-embodied robots, or humans – which must interact in a shared environment in pursuit of their goals. Multi-agent systems research spans a range of technical problems, such as how to design planning and learning algorithms which enable agents to achieve their goals; how to design multi-agent systems to incentivise certain behaviours in agents; how information is communicated and propagated among agents; and how norms, conventions, and roles may emerge in multi-agent systems. A vast array of applications have been addressed using multi-agent methodologies, including autonomous driving, multi-robot factories, automated trading, commercial games, automated tutoring, and robotic rescue teams.
The purpose of this special issue is to showcase current multi-agent systems research led by university and industry groups based in the United Kingdom. Research groups and institutes in the UK which have significant activity in multi-agent systems research were invited to submit an article describing: (1) the technical problems in multi-agent systems tackled by the group (their core research agenda), including applications and industry collaboration; (2) the main approaches developed by the group and any key results achieved; and (3) important open challenges in multi-agent systems research from the perspective of the group.
A large number of high-quality submissions were received, of which 14 were included for publication in the special issue. These articles represent a broad set of research topics within the field of multi-agent systems, showcasing the strength of contributions made by UK-based research groups in both universities and industry. We believe the open research problems discussed in each of the articles will provide a rich resource for researchers in this field, both new and old.
Research groups from the following organisations are represented in the special issue (ordered alphabetically):
DeepMind [7]
Five AI [9]
Heriot-Watt University [13]
King’s College London [2]
Teesside University [8]
University of Aberdeen [3]
University of Edinburgh [1]
University of Essex [11]
University of Lancaster [4]
University of Leeds [14]
University of Liverpool [10]
University of Manchester [5]
University of Oxford [12]
University of Southampton [6]
This special issue was organised as part of the work of the Alan Turing Institute,1
Talk recordings:
We thank the editors-in-chief as well as the editorial staff at AI Communications for their support in organising this special issue.
Stefano V. Albrecht and Michael Wooldridge
Guest editors
September 2022