Towards Situation-specific Agent Theories

A general agent theory requires a well-defined domain. We argue that this requirement is not met by most proposed agent theories. The reason is that they are based on assumptions about the internal structure of the agents, often described in terms of human-like “mental states” such as beliefs and intentions. In fact, there are strong indications that the task of developing a general agent theory covering all kinds of agents in any situation is simply too complex. Instead we suggest that agent theories should be based on the observable interaction between agents in particular situations and without reference to the internal structure of the agent.