A Multi-agent System Based on the Information

Metabolism Theory

Andrzej Bielecki and Dominika Nowak

Institute of Computer Science, Jagiellonian University,

ul. Nawojki 11, 30-072 Kraków, Poland
uibielec@cyf-kr.edu.pl

Abstract. The information metabolism approach to multi-agent sys-

tems is discussed. The organization and design methodology of such sys-
tems is studied.

1 Introduction

Development in the area of synthetic autonomous agents has promoted the study
of a cognitive basis of behavior (see [6], [13] and references given there). Both the
computational models and implementations of emotional agents are described in
literature ([13]). Such approach to modelling an agent or a community of agents
is based on models of animal, human and social cognitive abilities - compare
[9] and [14]. There are attempts to create mathematical models of some aspects
of human consciousness considering also consciousness dynamics ([6], [9]) and
implementing them using artificial neural networks ([4]), which makes it possibile
to use neural networks to create agents having some cognitive properties ([5],
[14]).
In this paper a model of MAS which is based on information metabolism is
introduced. This theory was founded at the beginning of seventies by a Polish
psychiatrist Antoni Kȩpiński ([10]) and used by him to describe the structure
and dynamics of human psyche both in a normal state and in pathology. Appli-
cations to psychiatry and psychology have been being systematically developed
by Kokoszka (see [11] and references given there). The significance of Kȩpiński’s
concepts goes far beyond psychology and psychiatry. The model can be applied
to a very wide class of cybernetic objects - self controlling open systems.
Kȩpiński was aware of the correspondence of his concepts to physics, while
writing about negentropy and to cybernetics, using in his theory the concept of
a feedback in information processes and analysing mental life in the context of
self-control systems.
Another direction of studies is connected with creating cybernetic and math-
ematical descriptions of the information metabolism theory in order to apply
the idea to computer systems ([3], [4], [9]). This paper is a continuation of this
approach and, as it was mentioned above, is an attempt to apply the Kȩpiński’s
concepts to MASes design.

R. Wyrzykowski et al. (Eds.): PPAM 2003, LNCS 3019, pp. 439–446, 2004.


c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004
440 A. Bielecki and D. Nowak

2 Information Metabolism Approach to Multi-agent

Systems

As the information metabolism theory was treated very utilitarialy by its

founder, it is not described in any article nor monography but it is spread in a
few works. Furthermore, nobody has tried to describe metabolism of information
as a complete theory. This is the main problem in studies concerning Kȩpińki’s
concepts. Let us specify the key points of the theory. According to Kȩpiński, the
metabolism of information has its own boundaries, a control center, a system
of information distribution and processing and a source of energy. Functional
structures of information metabolism are shaped early in life maintain order in
space and time and the layers of systems of value. The amount, complexity and
plasticity of functional structures increases along with the development. The hi-
erarchy of values governs the mechanism which select and filter the information
reaching any particular decision making level. The process on each level proceed
simultaneously and are conjugate to each other.
In this paper the aspects which seemed to be useful in MASes are specified
explicitely and possibilities of application are discussed. The considerations are
led paragraph by paragraph and each paragraph consists of two subpoints -
the first one concerns metabolism of information whereas in the second one
applications to MASes are discussed.

1. Openess
a) Living creatures are open systems. This means that exchange of energy
and information with the environment is necessary for their existence.
The energy is used to maintain the information metabolism. Energetic
metabolism dominates in primitive creatures like bacteria whereas infor-
mation metabolism dominates in such creatures as mammals.
b) It is one of the basic assumption that in a MAS an agent exchanges
information with its environment. Modelling such information flow is
an interesting problem. The dynamical systems theory has already been
used for modelling interactions between an agent and its environment
([1]) and it seems to be a convenient tool for the description of this
process. Furthermore, the theoretical frame of information metabolism
based on dynamical systems and including energetic aspects has been
created as well - [3], [9].
2. Hierarchism
a) Metabolism of information has a few branches: biological, emotional and
a logical one. Each of them is multileveled and continuous in time. They
run simultaneously and are conjugate to each other. The lower levels
are subconscious, whereas the upper ones are conscious. Information
metabolism has its own center, system of information processing and
distribution and boundaries separating it from the environment. Internal
structural constructions are responsible mainly for reception, selection
and transmission of information.
 A Multi-agent System Based on the Information Metabolism Theory 441

b) Multi-agent systems are organized in a hierarchical way. They have at

least two levels of organization: a single agent level and a social one.
Though the hierarchical organization of MASes is often taken into con-
sideration in theoretical studies, the theory of information metabolism
creates possibility to work out the problem in details. Thus, we can
specify the following levels of information metabolism. The signal level
and the level of single commands are most basic ones. The level of sim-
ple, non-structured algorithms consisting of only a few commands can
be specified as a succeeding one. The levels of single structured algo-
rithms and algorithms acting simultaneously and communicating with
each other are the two most complex ones. The simplest levels are re-
sponsible for performing simple, fast actions. In real time systems they
play a key role if the system is in danger. The third level performs tasks
which are automatic from the MAS’s point of view. The algorithm levels
allow to achieve the goal which has been specified as a MAS’s one. The
specified levels, especially the complex ones, can have their own inner
structures. The information processing on each level runs simultanously,
communicating with the neighbouring levels.
As it was mentioned, there are subconscious and conscious levels of in-
formation metabolism. Subconscious ones can be implemented as neu-
ral networks because they model functional input-output dependencies
without casual context - generally it is not known why neuronal weights
reach their actual values after learning process. The conscious levels can
be modelled by such structures as rule sets or semantic nets.
3. Energetic Aspect
a) Information metabolism needs energy centers which supply the energy
necessary for preservation of metabolism i.e. proper stimuli reception,
selection and integration as well as decision making. Energy is produced
in energy centers and then it is transported into each branch of informa-
tion metabolism. The structure of energy transport affects information
metabolism.
b) Energy flows could be modelled in such a way that an agent would get
virtual energetic units as payment for performing a task efficiently. These
units would be necessary for an agent to live, i.e. an agent’s amount of
units would decrease systematically in consequence of agent existence
and activity. These units could also be used to hire other agents for
performing subtasks or to reproduce and create a new agent. The energy
distribution to the branches of information metabolism and its influence
on metabolism should also be taken into account - it is considered in the
dynamical model - see [3].
4. Evolution of Cognitive Structures
a) The information metabolism theory underlines that the main role in
psychical processes is played by some interacting structures evolving in
time. The amount, complexity and plasticity of internal structures in-
crease along with the development of an individual. There are structures,
442 A. Bielecki and D. Nowak

called elimination centers, responsible for removing useless and unimpor-

tant information.
b) At the highest level of information metabolism functional structures are
given as sets of rules with the probability distribution. At the lower levels
they could be implemented as neural networks (see the point concerning
hierarchism). During the shaping process the connections between struc-
tures would be created or destroyed, probability distributions would be
changed, new neural networks and rules would be created or removed,
neural weights would be changed. The way in which it would be done
is connected, among others, with bahnung phenomenon described in the
next point.
5. Bahnung
a) Bahnung is a phenomenon connected with facilitation of impulse trans-
mission along nervous pathways. At the higher levels this means that for
the once chosen decision the probability to be chosen in future in similar
circumstances increases.
b) If a given structure has been chosen, the distribution of probability is
changed. A structure which is used frequently is automatizied - it is
moved to a lower level. This means that at a lower level there is created
a structure performing the same tasks and the old one is removed from
the higher level.

3 Application of Information Metabolism Theory in MAS

As the term ’Computer Aided Design’ shows, computer systems in general still
remain an aid for human designers, whose main ability is creativeness, un-
achieved by any computer so far. However, in many specific tasks the specialised
computer systems can work unattended basing on initial information or/and
an occasional feedback from the designer, giving satisfying results. Extensive
research in the field of CAD is carried out, including application of genetic algo-
rithms ([2]), expert systems ([7]), graph grammars ([8]) etc. Using multi-agent
expert systems in design is a relatively new approach. In this paper an exam-
ple of a model of such system, basing on the information metabolism theory, is
introduced.

3.1 General Assumptions

The described system perfoms three main tasks:

1. Designs furniture sets;

2. Designs arrangements of furniture in the room;
3. Aids production of the furniture.

It is planned as a multi-user distributed commercial system, realizing designs

of non-standard furniture sets for individual customers on demand. Basing on
 A Multi-agent System Based on the Information Metabolism Theory 443

information supplied by the customer, the system creates adequate designs, pos-
sibly passing the order to manufacturing, if needed. Input information includes
description of the required furniture set, the room where it should be placed,
acceptable materials (wood, metal, glass, laminated panels) and the time limits.
Ready designs are evaluated, and the system receives feedback about the price.

3.2 Structure of the System

There are a few kinds of agents active in the system, acting simultaneously
and performing different tasks. A separate entity is the database, collecting
information about created designs and arrangements.

The designing agents: Each agent in this group designs one piece of the
furniture and then decides about its position. Agents are specialized in design-
ing specific types of furniture, having adequate knowledge in their disposal. The
’facts’ in knowledge bases of these agents are represented by a set of three-
dimensional primitives (basic solids), a set of predefined atomic furniture ele-
ments (such as a door knob), and graphic representations of a piece furniture
or its elements (e.g. drawers). An example of such knowledge base is shown in
[12]. The space in the room, which is to be furnished, can be considered as the
agents’ pool of resources. The base of rules for each agent in this group divides
into four different sets of rules:
1. Graph grammar rules for designing more complex pieces of furniture with
variable number of elements (terminal symbols for these grammars are placed
in base of facts). A simple graph grammar is shown [12].
2. Technical rules concerning resizing and reconstructing the furniture. Should
also include information about possibility of element scaling;
3. Interpretation rules, describing relations between physical elements - neces-
sary to build a construction from a graph representation. This information
concerns mainly graph’s edges.
4. Rules relating to the arrangement of furniture in the room. The user should
be able to override these rules, if he needs to, or fix positions for some pieces
of furniture.
The individual agent’s activity manifests itself in four main levels, having
reflection in Kȩpiński’s hierarchical levels of informational metabolism:
1. On the first level the agent looks for the desired piece of furniture in its
knowledge base. This could be sufficient in case of a very simple piece of
furniture, the one which was designed earlier, or when the user cares just for
its arrangement - the primitive solids can be used instead complex furniture
designs in this case;
2. If the required piece of furniture exists in the knowledge base as a structure,
but in the inappropriate size, the goal of the agent is to resize it. This hap-
pens on the second level, and might require reconstruction of the structure,
according to the technical rules. If it turns out that the piece of furniture
444 A. Bielecki and D. Nowak

cannot be resized (without loss of stability, for instance), the third level
should be activated.
3. On the third level the agent makes use of graph grammar defined in its base
of rules for a particular piece of furniture. The possible scheme of action is to
evaluate all possible words generated by the grammar, checking if they meet
the demands (and cutting the branches in the derivation tree which would
not lead to satisfying solutions). The agent can stop when first matching word
is found, or choose between all possibilities basing on some additional criteria
(like symmetry), or eventually let the user choose in an interactive way.
Finally, a piece of furniture must be resized, and if the result is satisfying, it
might be added to the base of facts.
4. On the fourth level all agents cooperate to create a satisfying arrangement
of furniture in a given room. Agents representing dependent pieces of furni-
ture (like a desk and an office chair) should act together in this case. Each
agent has a function of space evaluation - some places in the room might be
more valuable, depending on the kind of furniture. The arrangement should
maximize the sum of such values for all agents. There could be different ways
of achieving this goal, from a simple backtracking algorithm to much more
complicated rules of negotiations between agents.

Agents Creating Arrangments: This group of agents deals with arranging

furniture sets in rooms, adding new information to the base of arrangements.
However, these agents do not work for a specific order, and consequently are
not bounded by time limits. They might develop alternative arrangements for
finished projects, or arrange designed furniture sets in different rooms.
Agents Working With Database: These agents work with the database
containing arrangements and designs created so far by the system. Agents should
query the database in a way to find the most useful designs for current problem,
taking into consideration cases when arrangement may be a part of an existing
one or its transformation.
Technical Agents: The ready furniture designs are passed to this group of
agents. Their task is to prepare a precise plan of work for a piece of furniture,
a plan of optimal material usage (in agreement with storekeeper agent), or even
making instructions for mechanical devices (e.g. to cut boards). In case of pro-
ducing DIY furniture, agents should be able to make assembly instructions for
the furniture.
Storekeeper Agent: There is only one agent of this kind in the system.
Its task is to trace consumption of material and prefabricated products in the
system, alarming about shortages, possibly even preparing orders. Storekeeper
agent exchanges information with technical agent, notifying them about available
materials and collecting information about predicted usage.
Ready designs of sets of furniture along with the suitable arrangement
schemes (information concerning the room) may be collected in the system in an
external database. As the system’s experience increases, it would be reasonable
to search this database for an earlier solution to a problem similar to given. Sepa-
 A Multi-agent System Based on the Information Metabolism Theory 445

rate group of agents should interact with such database, passing the information
to agents designing furniture.
Information flow in the system is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Information flow between groups of agents and the database.

As it was described, such system has much in common with theory of in-
formation metabolism. The activity of agents divides into several hierarchical
levels with increasing degree of complication, and exchange of information be-
tween individual levels occurs. There is also a common goal for all agents (which
is solving the problem of room furnishing), and there are processes in the sys-
tem, which are connected with achieving the goal only indirectly - that could
be compared with subconscious processes in human’s mind. Finally, there is a
possibility of changing the knowledge base of each agent through the structure
evolution resulting from the system’s experience.
Energetic aspect of information metabolism could be simulated in the sys-
tem by assigning virtual money to the agents. Ready designs and arrangements
are evaluated outside the system, and information concerning project’s com-
mercial value is fed back. Then all design agents which worked for the project
might receive payment, adequate to their contribution. Money should be spent
by agents on ’costs of living’ (which would be maintenance of the database) or
hiring another agent to share their tasks.

4 Concluding Remarks
As it was mentioned in the introduction section, new theoretical frames for
MASes have been being looked for. It seemed that Kȩpiński’s ideas are promis-
ing ones in this context. In the paper a theoretical frame based on the metabolism
information theory is sketched. It should be stressed that the presented study,
according to its volume limitations, is far from exhausting. Not only at least a
few other points can be added to the second section but also deeper analysis of
446 A. Bielecki and D. Nowak

applications can be led in every specified point. However, only an effective im-
plementation of a MAS based on information metabolism theory can constitute
the ultimate test of usefulness.

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