Social Order and Adaptability in Animal and Human Cultures as Analogues for Agent Communities: Toward a Policy-Based Approach Paul J. Feltovich, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Renia Jeffers, Niranjan Suri, Andrzej Uszok Institute for Human and Machine Cognition/University of West Florida 40 S. Alcaniz, Pensacola, FL 32501 {pfeltovich, jbradshaw, rjeffers, nsuri, auszok}@ihmc.us Abstract. In this paper we discuss some of the ways social order is maintained in animal and human realms, with the goal of enriching our thinking about mechanisms that might be employed in developing similar means of ordering communities of agents. We present examples from our current work in human- agent teamwork, and we speculate about some new directions this kind of research might take. Since communities also need to change over time to cope with changing circumstances, we also speculate on means that regulatory bodies can use to adapt. 1. Introduction As computational systems with increasing autonomy interact with humans in more complex ways—and with the welfare of the humans sometimes dependent on the conduct of the agents—there is a natural concern that the agents act in ways that are acceptable to people [7; 51]. In addition to traditional concerns for safety and robustness in such systems [12], there are important social aspects relating to predictability, control, feedback, order, and naturalness of the interaction that must be attended to [8; 10; 50]. In this paper we investigate just some of the ways social order is maintained in animal and human realms (sections 2 and 3), with the goal of enriching our thinking about mechanisms that might be employed to enhance order in mixed human-agent teams. 1 We present examples of such systems that have been created to support agent-based applications (section 4), and we speculate about new directions this kind of research might take (section 5). Since enduring communities also need to change over time to cope with changing circumstances, we speculate briefly on means that regulatory bodies can utilize for supporting adaptation (section 6). Finally, we present some concluding observations (section 7). 1 In this sense, we agree with the conjecture of Norman: “Technology recapitulates phylogeny” [50, p. 134].