Autonomous agents and anticipative systems

In this paper we propose an artificial intelligence approach to real time simulation of a virtual community based on a multiagent system. Our approach is based on the work of Holland and Miller (1991), in which the authors propose that the system may be viewed as a complex dynamic adaptive system with a large number of different kinds of agents. In such environment, agents may take their decisions based on the anticipation of the future state of the world (Axelrod, 1997). In this paper, we explore how useful the concept of anticipation can be for real time simulation improving and facilitating decisions of the virtual entities. In this paper, we work with real time anticipative agents and where developed situations, actions, and changes in the world. This normal context in a virtual world is taken as a framework where an agent is able to compare previous learned situations, executed actions and obtained results; with current situations in order to decide which action could lead the agent to a situation with the best utility or satisfaction degree.