A Value-Driven System for Autonomous Information Gathering

This paper presents a system for autonomous information gathering in an information rich domain under time and monetary resource restrictions. The system gathers information using an explicit representation of the user's decision model and a database of information sources. Information gathering is performed by repeatedly selecting the query with the highest marginal value. This value is determined by the value of the information with respect to the decision being made, the responsiveness of the information source, and a given resource cost function. Finally, we compare the value-driven approach to several base-line techniques and show that the overhead of the meta-level control is made up for by the increased decision quality.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2000
• Where: JIIS
• Authors: Joshua Grass, Shlomo Zilberstein
• Keywords: Information, Information Source, JIIS 2000, Monetary Resource Restrictions