document: To commit or not to commit : modeling agent conversations for action Conversations are sequences of messages exchanged among interacting agents . For conversations to be meaningful , agents ought to follow commonly known specifications limiting the types of messages that can be exchanged at any point in the conversation . These specifications are usually implemented using conversation policies -LRB- which are rules of inference -RRB- or conversation protocols -LRB- which are predefined conversation templates -RRB- . In this article we present a semantic model for specifying conversations using conversation policies . This model is based on the principles that the negotiation and uptake of shared social commitments entail the adoption of obligations to action , which indicate the actions that agents have agreed to perform . In the same way , obligations are retracted based on the negotiation to discharge their corresponding shared social commitments . Based on these principles , conversations are specified as interaction specifications that model the ideal sequencing of agent participations negotiating the execution of actions in a joint activity . These specifications not only specify the adoption and discharge of shared commitments and obligations during an activity , but also indicate the commitments and obligations that are required -LRB- as preconditions -RRB- or that outlive a joint activity -LRB- as postconditions -RRB- . We model the Contract Net Protocol as an example of the specification of conversations in a joint activity
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