Towards a formalization of value-centric trust in agent societies

Abstract

This work focuses on the design and implementation of a new model of trust based on the formalizations of reputation, self-esteem, and similarity within an agent. In this work we universalize reputation through the use of values found within all virtual and agent societies. The following values are manifested within a society of agents: responsibility, honesty, independence, obedience, ambition, helpfulness, capability, knowledgability, and cost-efficiency. Manifestations of these values lead to a more universalized approach to formalizing reputation.

This new model of trust is examined within the context of an e-commerce framework. The e-commerce based multiagent system is comprised of buyers and sellers that wish to conduct business. Sellers can engage in untrustworthy business behavior at the buyer's expense. It is the job of the model to decide whether a selling agent is trustworthy enough to engage in business. The trust model is analyzed with respect to stability, scalability, accuracy in attaining e-commerce objectives, and general effectiveness in discouraging untrustworthy behavior.

Based on the experiments, the model is scalable and stable dependent upon the agent population of buyers and sellers. It achieves its primary objective of discouraging untrustworthy behavior as measured through the acceleration of Gross Domestic Product growth over time. Within the simulator, a high degree of random outcomes is possible. Stability is used to examine the predictability of the model (on average) given a fixed set of given data about the simulations.