Multiagent Systems, and the Search for Appropriate Foundations: A Personal Journey and Retrospective

Research is a highly personal endeavor shaped by a researcher's own experience, personality, inclinations, and memory. This talk provides a personal interpretation of my 43 years as a researcher in the multiagent systems community, from my first published paper in AAAI'82 to the present. By walking through a timeline of research topics and results, I will highlight connections and research emphases through the decades. Along the way, I will provide a subjective take on related topics, including tips for early researchers, guiding principles for advisors, AI systems' historical over-emphasis on (narrowly defined) performance, theory vs. practice, and the importance of finding a (scientific) community.