Matoušek’s Lecture Given by Prof. Zambonelli
The honorary lecture in computer science commemorated Jiří Matoušek for the third time. In his lecture, Franco Zambonelli focused on AI agents.
Franco Zambonelli is a full professor of Computer Science at
the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He got his PhD in Computer Science
and Engineering from the University of Bologna in 1997. His research interests
include: distributed AI and multi-agent systems, self-adaptive and
self-organizing systems, with applications to healthcare and smart cities.
In
these areas, he has published over 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has
been an invited speaker at multiple conferences and workshops. He is on the
editorial board of the Springer-Nature Computer Science Journal, the IEEE
Technology and Society Magazine, the BCS Computer Journal, the International
Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications.
He has been the scientific
manager of the EU FP6 Project CASCADAS and coordinator of the EU FP7 Project
SAPERE and of the PRIN 2017 Project Fluidware. He is an ACM Distinguished
Scientist, a member of the Academia Europaea, an IEEE Fellow, and a recipient of
the 2018 IFAAMAS Influential
Paper Award.
Abstract
Recent advances in
AI are driving an unprecedented and fast-paced development of myriads of
powerful agent tools and applications, mostly based on generative AI
technologies and increasingly involving multiple collaborative agents. However,
the lack of solid conceptual abstractions and engineering foundations, as well
as clear principles driving their design, may hamper the building of complex AI
agent societies, eventually limiting their trustworthiness, applicability, and
evolution.
In this context, we argue that such a set of abstractions should
constitute the narrow neck of an indispensable “cognitive hourglass”: a level of abstraction meant to be useful for humans to understand, design and
control agents and complex agent societies, regardless of the specific AI
technologies adopted at the implementation level and of the specific application
context.
In the talk, I will start from the key concepts associated with
individual and social cognitive activities, present the idea of the cognitive
hourglass, motivate its need, sketch its envisioned architecture, and eventually
identify the research challenges for its realization.
The Matoušek's Lecture has been held since 2024 in memory of one of the most prominent Czech computer scientists and mathematicians of the late 20th and early 21st century. Prof. RNDr. Jiří Matoušek, DrSc. (1963–2015) was a professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University and at ETH Zurich. He authored numerous acclaimed monographs and textbooks, particularly in the field of theoretical computer science.
