Self-organised Distributed Information Processing in cyber-physical and socio-technical systems

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In digital transformation, many instances of cyber-physical, and socio-technical systems, consisting of a group of heterogeneous autonomous and independent units, might encounter the requirement of making collective decisions. To that end, the units of the system address questions to one another, exchange information, and combine a set of individual, independent, subjective measurements or opinions into a single mutually-agreed decision. Using the methodology of socially inspired computing, we are going to design an algorithmic formalisation of a theory of psychology called Regulatory Theory of Social Influence (RTSI). RTSI has a number of distinctive features that offer an alternative approach which suggests that social influence consists of sources influencing targets, as well as, of targets seeking sources by whom to be influenced, and distinguishes between "formative" and informative communication. In addition, we are going to develop an innovative self-organising multi-agent simulator, in which we will embed this algorithm, and run a series of experiments to test the increasingly richer aspects of Distributed Information Processing and Social Influence. Initially, we are going to study the emergence of expertise, the diversity of knowledge, and the distribution of work in such socio-technical distributed systems. Addressing problems of stability and flexibility, we will highlight the significance of maintaining a balance between them, as a way to avoid stagnancy or spending too much effort in changing. Furthermore, we intend to investigate the role of oracles and machine learning in the codification of knowledge, the preservation of collective memory, and the mitigation of hazards such as oligarchy and majoritarian tyranny, and we will, particularly, look into the dual nature of knowledge and power as proposed by Foucault. We will extend the analysis in dynamic systems, and we will explore whether and how education ''with or without oracles" can act as a mechanism of gatekeeping knowledge and validating innovation. Considering that trust, which has been many studied in multi-agent systems and has many nuances and perspectives, is particularly important in socio-technical distributed systems, this research will, also, examine the role of deception and costly signalling in the development of trust between the individuals of the system, and consequently, in the competence of the multi-agent system to make educated collective decisions. After observing the importance of the typology of the question in the understanding of the answer, we will develop models in which the units ask different kinds of questions and follow different processes of reflection. Finally, this research might also investigate the potential impact of a blockchain-based approach to costly signalling and how can this contribute to the social construction of conceptual relations of accountability and responsibility, and examine their role in systemic self-improvement reflection and stability. This project in the EPSRC areas of "Artificial Intelligence technologies" and "Information Systems" could have various applications into physical or cyber distributed information processing systems. For instance, it could establish the basis for the design of sustainable responsible information systems and can, also, be used in many Industry 5.0 applications, including smart cities or smart factories, autonomous cars, and robotic systems.