Abstract
The work described in this paper tackles learning and communication between cognitive artificial agents and try to meet the following issue: Is it possible to find an equivalency between a communicative process and a learning process, to model and implement communication and learning as dual aspects of the same cognitive mechanism? Therefore, focus is on dialog as the only way for agents to acquire and revise knowledge, as it often happens in natural situations. This particular paper concentrates on a learning situation where two agents, in a ‘teacher' - ‘student' relationship, exchange information with a learning incentive (on behalf of the ‘student'), according to a socratic dialog. The teacher acts as the reliable knowledge source, and the student is an agent which goal is to increase its knowledge base in an optimal way. The article first defines the nature of the addressed agents, the types of relation they maintain, and the structure and contents of their knowledge base. It emphasizes the symmetry between the interaction and knowledge management, by highlighting knowledge ‘repair' procedures launched through dialogic means. These procedures deal with misunderstanding, as a situation in which the student is unable to integrate new knowledge directly, and discussion, related to paradoxical information handling. The chapter describes learning goals and strategies, student and teacher roles within both dialog and knowledge handling. It also provides solutions for problems encountered by agents. A general architecture is then established and a comment on an a part of the theory implementation is given. Conclusion is about the achievements carried out and the potential improvement of this work.