agentteori

Agentteori, or agent theory, is an interdisciplinary field that studies entities capable of autonomous action, perception, and interaction with their environments. It seeks to understand how agents form goals, select actions, learn from experience, and coordinate with other agents within complex systems. The scope spans philosophy, economics, cognitive science, and computer science, with each discipline emphasizing different aspects of agency.

Core concepts include agents, environments, perceptions, actions, goals or utilities, and the processes by which agents reason about and balance those factors. Key distinctions often arise between individual agents and collectives, as well as between normative models of how agents should act and descriptive models of how they do act. Central questions address rationality, autonomy, intentionality, and accountability for outcomes.

Approaches to agent theory vary by domain. In economics and game theory, the principal-agent problem and incentive design analyze information asymmetries and delegation. In computer science and artificial intelligence, agent theory underpins multi-agent systems and architectures such as Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI), as well as decision theory, reinforcement learning, and mechanism design. In philosophy and cognitive science, the focus is on the nature of intentional action, mental states, and the conditions for ascribing agency.

Applications of agent theory are broad, including robotics and automation, organizational design and policy analysis, software agents, and simulations of social systems. Critiques often address bounded rationality, ethical concerns, transparency, alignment with human values, and accountability in automated decision-making.