Dependence Relations among Autonomous Agents

The main thesis of this work is that human interactions are neither unpredictable nor bounded, but they are undertaken autonomously on the grounds of a number of basic principles and conditions. Among these, a crucial role is played by the objective dependence relationships holding among agents. In this paper we report about a first step in providing a computational theory of dependence as a tool for interaction control. We define non social as well as social dependence, and try to show how dependence relationships are organized into complex patterns (such as multiparty, multigoal, unilateral, and bilateral dependence). We then show how a given set of dependence relationships may produce new dependence relationships. Finally, we explore the relationship between dependence and influencing, describing how an agent's dependence on another is predictive of one's goal of influencing the other, as well as of the latter's power of influencing the former.