The Insufficiency of Formal Design Methods - The Necessity of an Experimental Approach - for the Understanding and Control of Co

We highlight the limitations of formal methods by exhibiting two results in recursive function theory: that there is no effective means of finding a program that satisfies a given formal specification; or checking that a program meets a specification. We also exhibit a ‘simple’MAS which has all the power of a Turing machine. We then argue that any ‘pure design’ methodology will face insurmountable difficulties in today’s open and complex MAS. Rather we suggest a methodology based on the classic experimental method – that is ‘scientific foundations’for the construction and control of complex MAS.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: ATAL
• Authors: Bruce Edmonds, Joanna Bryson
• Keywords: ATAL 2004, Complex Mas, Formal Methods, Recursive Function Theory