Negotiating agents

Negotiation is a complex emotional decision-making process aiming to reach an agreement to exchange goods or services. From an agent technological perspective creating negotiating agents that can support humans with their negotiations is an interesting challenge. After more than a decade of research, negotiating agents can outperform human beings (in terms of deal optimality) if the negotiation space is well understood. However, the inherent semantic problem and the emotional issues involved mean that negotiation cannot be handled by artificial intelligence alone, and a human-machine collaborative system is required. This article presents research goals, challenges, and an approach to create the next generation of negotiation support agents.
Everyone is an experienced negotiator and everyone has an opinion about his or her negotiation skills. However, even professional negotiators can still improve their skills considerably. 'Most people are ineffective [...]