Integrating Agent-Based Mixed-Initiative Control with an Existing Multi-Agent Planning System

One of the less appreciated obstacles to scaling multi-agent systems is understanding the impact of the role(s) that people will play in those systems. As we try to adapt existing software tools and agent-based applications to play supportive roles in larger multi-agent systems, we must develop strategies for coordinating not only the problem solving behavior of these agent communities, but also their information sharing and interactive behavior. Our research interest is in mixed-initiative control of intelligent systems [Burstein and McDermott, 1996; Burstein et al., 1998; Ferguson et al., 1996a] and, in particular, of interactive planning systems comprised of a heterogeneous collection of software agents. In this paper, we describe our experience constructing a prototype tool combining elements of TRIPS [Ferguson and Allen, 1998], an interactive, mixed-initiative agentbased planning architecture using spoken natural language dialogue, with the CAMPS Mission Planner, an interactive airlift scheduling tool developed for the Air Force [Emerson and Burstein, 1999], together with some related resource management agents representing other parts of the airlift planning organization. The latter scheduling tools were not originally designed to participate as part of a mixed-initiative, interactive agent community, but rather were designed for direct user interaction through their own GUIs. We describe some requirements revealed by this effort for effective mixed-initiative interaction in such an environment, including the role of explanation, the need for contextual information sharing among the agents, and our approach to intelligent invocation and integration of available agent capabilities.