Intelligent Software Agents

2 chapter contains examples of intelligent agents, arranged according to their appli cation areas. Chapter 7 closes with a prospective view of the future development of intelligent agents. Everyone concerned with the Internet and the new possibilities of information and communication technology knows that nowadays there is no area that is devel oping faster. The authors are aware of the dynamics of this research area and its effects when they describe such a fast developing area in a slow, traditional me dium like a book. One thing is sure today: when the book appears on the market, new intelligent agents will already exist and some of the hypotheses made by this book will have been shown to be incorrect. Why, despite this, does it make sense to write a classical book on this subject? Is there an alternative? Experience shows that the majority of the people in business and public life who make decisions on the use of new technologies continue to prefer books and articles in periodicals rather than electronic sources such as the Internet. Or is there some other reason for the enormous success of Nicolas Negroponte's book Being Digital, which we thank for multimedia and many concepts of the digital and networked world, and even intelligent agents? Today, a book is still the only way to establish a new area.

Methodical presentation of intelligent software agents and their applications. Extensive accounts of practical examples of intelligent software agents. Practical relevance of intelligent software agents shown in a variety of application areas.

Autorentext
Dr. Rüdiger Zarnekow ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Wirtschaftsinformatik, an der Technischen Universität Freiberg, wo er 1999 bei Professor Dr. Walter Brenner promovierte. Hartmut Wittig ist Zentralbereichsleiter für Unternehmensstrategie bei der Deutschen Telekom Computer Service Management GmbH (DeTeCSM).Dort sammelte er Erfahrungen in leitenden Tätigkeiten der Internet-Softwareentwicklung. In den vergangenen Jahren war er außerdem als Dozent für Multimedia-Systeme an verschiedenen deutschen Universitäten sowie als Herausgeber der IEEE Multimedia Newsletter tätig. Walter Brenner, Prof. Dr. oec., ist Professor für Wirtschaftsinformatik an der Universität St. Gallen und geschäftsführender Direktor des Instituts für Wirtschaftsinformatik. Zudem ist er freiberuflich als Berater für Informationsmanagements und die Vorbereitung von Unternehmen auf die digitale vernetzte Welt (Internet) tätig.

Klappentext

This methodical presentation of intelligent software agents is based on a series of case studies. The authors first present the foundations, then give a thorough description of the influences of artificial intelligence, networks, and communication systems. The relevant development methods and tools are described next, followed by the application areas for intelligent software agents. Numerous examples are used to offer the reader extended descriptions of individual software agents, especially the agents BargainFinder and Kasbah. The treatment balances equally the basic foundations and the practical implementation of intelligent software agents. Thus the book is equally suited for both application and development work.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- I: Fundamentals.- 2 Agents as Tools of the Information Society.- 3 Fundamental Concepts of Intelligent Software Agents.- 4 Base Modules of Agent Systems.- 5 Development Methods and Tools.- II: Applications.- 6 Application Areas for Intelligent Software Agents.- 7 The Future.