INTELLIGENT AGENT WITH NEGOTIATION CAPABILITY AND METHOD OF NEGOTIATION THEREWITH

摘要

An intelligent agent (100) and method of negotiating incorporating a number of features, used alone or in combination, to enhance the productivity, security, efficiency and responsiveness of the agent (100) in negotiations with other parties. One feature where an agent (100) is resident on a remote system (60) and in communication with a client system (20) incorporates randomization of one or more aspects of an agent's (100) behaviour to disguise its negotiation strategy from other negotiating parties (95) and thereby prevent such parties from gaining a negotiating advantage at the expense of the agent (100). Another feature incorporates limiting unproductive negotiations by constraining one or more aspects of an agent's behavior based upon the behavior of a negotiating party (95) and/or the duration of the transaction.