Computational models of argumentation
The computational study of argumentation concerns two aspects: reasoning and dialogue.
Argumentation as a form of reasoning makes explicit the reasons for the conclusions that are drawn and how conflicts between reasons are resolved. Systems for argumentation-based inference were orginally developed in the field of nonmonotonic logic, which formalises qualitative reasoning with incomplete, uncertain or inconsistent information. Argument-based systems have been very successful as nonmonotonic logics, since they are based on very natural concepts, such as argument, counterargument, rebuttal and defeat. An early overview of this field is my handbook chapter
with Gerard Vreeswijk.
My first contribution to this field (with
Giovanni
Sartor) was a system with the first published argument game for grounded semantics,
and with one of the first mechanisms for arguing about preferences
(Prakken & Sartor 1997). Currently I am working on An abstract framework for argumentation with structured arguments (now called the ASPIC+ framework), in which I try to integrate the work of Dung, Pollock, Vreeswijk, and others. Some recent work on ASPIC+ is with Sanjay Modgil, e.g. our AI Journal 2013 paper, a 2014 tutorial paper and a 2018 handbook chapter. I am also interested in the relation between models of abstract and structured argumentation; see e.g. my ECAI 2014 paper and a recent CMNA 2020 paper, both on bipolar argumentation frameworks, my COMMA 2018 paper with Michiel de Winter on the dangers of abstraction in argumentation, and my KR 2018 paper on probabilistic argumentation.
In models of inter-agent dialogue, argumentation is important when a conflict of opinion arises between negotiating or collaborating agents. Argumentation as a kind of dialogue provides a natural mechanism for the resolution of such disagreements. In my Synthese 2001 article on dynamic disputes I studied argument games in which agents dynamically exchange arguments in settings with distributed information. Among other things, I defined a structural notion of relevance of dialogue utterances. In my
JLC 2005 article on Coherence and
Flexibility in Dialogue Games for Argumentation I extended this work to dialogue games with richer communication languages. In 2006 I wrote an overview of work on
Formal systems
for persuasion dialogue.
Workshops and Conferences
Future:
Past:
- International Conferences on Computational Models of Argument
(COMMA).
Liverpool 2006, Toulouse 2008, Desenzano del Garda 2010, Vienna 2012,
Pitlochry 2014,
Potsdam 2016,
Warsaw 2018,
Perugia 2020.
- Workshops on Computational Dialectics:
AAAI'94
ECAI'2000
- Workshops on Computational Models of Natural Argument:
Lyon 2002
Acapulco 2003
Valencia 2004
Edinburgh 2005
Riva del Garda 2006
Hyderabad 2007
Patras 2008
Pasadena 2009
Lissabon 2010
San Francisco 2011
Montpellier 2012
Rome 2013
Krakow 2014
Bertinoro 2015
London 2017.
- Workshops on Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems (ArgMas):
New York 2004
Utrecht 2005
Hakodate 2006
Hawaii 2007
Estoril 2008
Budapest 2009
Toronto 2010
Taipeh 2011
Valencia 2012
St. Paul 2013
Paris 2014.
Istanbul 2015
- International Workshops on the Theory and Applications of Formal Argumentation (TAFA):
Barcelona 2011
Beijing 2013
Buenos Aires 2015
Melbourne 2017.
- International Conferences on Agreement Technologies (AT):
Dubrovnik 2012
Beijing 2013
Beijing 2013.
- Special NMR sessions on Argument, Dialogue and Decision:
Toulouse 2002
Whistler 2004
Lake District 2006
Sidney 2008
Toronto 2010
- International Workshops on Dialogue, Explanation and Argumentation in Human-Agent Interaction (DEXAHAI) Southampton 2018, Santiago de Compostella 2020.
- Workshop on The wisdom and madness of crowds: argumentation, information exchange and social interaction.
Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 30 March - 1 April 2020 (online because of coronavirus crisis.)
- Conference on Bridging the gap between formal argumentation and actual human reasoning.
Bochum (Germany), 4-5 October, 2018.
- Second Chinese Conference on Logic and Argumentation (CLAR 2018).
Hangzhou (China), 16-17 June 2018.
- 2nd Workshop on Argument Strength.
Toulouse (France), 10-12 April 2018.
- 1st Workshop on Argument Strength .
Bochum (Germany), 1-2 December, 2016.
- IJCAI-2016 Workshop on Argumentation in Logic Programming and Non-Monotonic Reasoning (ArgLPNMR 2016).
New York (USA), July 9-11, 2016.
- 1st International Workshop on Argumentation and Logic Programming
(ArgLP 2015),
Cork (Ireland) 31 August 2015.
- 2nd Workshop on Argumentation Mining.
Denver (USA), 4 June, 2015.
- 12th ArgDiap Conference "From Real Data to Argument Mining".
Warsaw (Poland) 23-24 May, 2014.
- Workshop on Argumentation, Rationality and Decicison
London (UK) 18-19 September, 2014.
- Summer School on Argumentation: Computational and Linguistic Perspectives
(SSA 2014).
Pitlochry (Scotland), September 4 - 8, 2014.
- First Workshop on Argumentation Mining. An ACL 2014 Workshop
Baltimore (USA), 26 June, 2014.
- 12th SWAM 2014: Workshop on Argument Mining: Perspectives from Information Extraction, Information Retrieval and Computational Linguistics.
Dundee (Scotland) 9-10 July, 2014.
- 14th International Workshop on Computational Logic in Multi-Agent Systems (CLIMA XIV), with a special session on Argumentation Technologies.
La Coruna (Spain), September 16-17, 2013.
- Workshop on Formal Methods in Argument Reconstruction,
Konstanz (Germany), September 20-21, 2012.
- Workshop on Dynamics Of Argumentation, Rules, and Conditionals,
Luxemburg (Luxemburg), April 2-3, 2012.
- AAAI Fall 2009 Symposium on The Uses of Computational Argumentation.
Washington D.C. (USA), 5-7 November 2009.
- International Symposium on Games, Argumentation and Logic Programming .Luxembourg (Luxembourg), 23-24 April 2009.
- Dagstuhl Perspectives workshop on
Theory and Practice of Argumentation Systems.
Dagstuhl (Germany), January 20-23, 2008.
- Symposium on Argument and Computation.
Pitlochry (Scotland), June 26 - July 3, 2000.
- Maastricht Argument Day.
An international workshop on argument
Maastricht (The Netherlands), 4 December
1996.
Books and journals
Software, games, etc..
Researchers
Leila Amgoud
Pietro Baroni
Trevor Bench-Capon
Philippe Besnard
Floris Bex
Liz Black
Simon Buckingham Shum
Gerd Brewka
Martin Caminada
Frederico Cerutti
Phan Minh Dung
Paul Dunne
Tim van Gelder
Tom Gordon
John Horty
Tony Hunter
Tony Kakas
Robert Kowalski
Ron Loui
Peter McBurney
Sanjay Modgil
Nir Oren
Simon Parsons
John Pollock
Iyad Rahwan
Chris Reed
Guillermo Simari
Matthias Thimm
Francesca Toni
Paolo Torroni
Leon van der Torre
Bart Verheij
Gerard Vreeswijk
Stefan Woltran