On cooperation in multi-agent systems

Cooperation is often presented as one of the key concepts which differentiates multi-agent systems from other related disciplines such as distributed computing, object-oriented systems, and expert systems. However, it is a concept whose precise usage in agent-based systems is at best unclear and at worst highly inconsistent. Given the centrality of the issue, and the different ideological viewpoints on the subject, this was a lively panel which dealt with the following main issues.