Coherence in Multi-agent Interaction

Abstract

This paper describes the use of coherence constraints as a means to regulate agent interaction. Coherence constraints describe re- lationships between the content of utterances, and the context. They can be used for example to express that an answer must refer back in a meaningful way to the question that it answers. We also discuss several possible ways in which the enforcement of coherence constraints can be implemented in a multi-agent system. Finally we describe a possible im- plementation in the 3APL platform, which shows the feasibility of this form of interaction regulation.