This paper was presented at the Second International Workshop on
Cooperative Information Agents (CIA-98), Paris, July 4-7, 1998.

Dynamics of an Information-Filtering Economy

Jeffrey O. Kephart, James E. Hanson, David W. Levine,
Benjamin N. Grosof, Jakka Sairamesh,
Richard B. Segal, and Steve R. White
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
P.O. Box 704, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

Abstract:

Our overall goal is to characterize and understand the dynamic behavior of information economies: very large open economies of automated information agents that are likely to come into existence on the Internet. Here we model a simple information-filtering economy in which broker agents sell selected articles to a subscribed set of consumers. Analysis and simulation of this model reveal the existence of both desirable and undesirable phenomena, and give some insight into their nature and the conditions under which they occur. In particular, efficient self-organization of the broker population into specialized niches can occur when communication and processing costs are neither too high nor too low, but endless price wars can undermine this desirable state of affairs.

• Introduction
• Model of the news filtering economy
• Behavior of the news filtering economy
  • Single broker case
  • Two broker case: price competition and warfare
  • General myoptimal case; discussion
  • Limited competitive knowledge; niches and prices
• Conclusion
• References