Different Facets for Different Experts: A Framework for Streamlining The Integration of Qualitative Insights into ABM Development

TL;DR

This paper presents a framework and tool architecture that enables multiple domain experts to incorporate qualitative insights into agent-based models without changing code, allowing continuous updates and more faithful simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel architecture that separates agent capabilities from qualitative insights, facilitating expert input without coding and enabling ongoing model refinement.

Findings

Supports multiple experts' insights without code modification

Allows continuous integration of qualitative behaviors

Produces more faithful and comparable agent behaviors

Abstract

A key problem in agent-based simulation is that integrating qualitative insights from multiple discipline experts is extremely hard. In most simulations, agent capabilities and corresponding behaviour needs to be programmed into the agent. We report on the architecture of a tool that disconnects the programmed functions of the agent, from the acquisition of capability and displayed behaviour. This allows multiple different domain experts to represent qualitative insights, without the need for code to be changed. It also allows a continuous integration (or even change) of qualitative behaviour processes, as more insights are gained. The consequent behaviour observed in the model is both, more faithful to the expert's insight as well as able to be contrasted against other models representing other insights.