Research Interests

  • Computational models of argument
  • Autonomous agents and multi-agent systems
  • Argumentation theory
  • Practical reasoning
  • Dialogue interactions and protocols
  • eGovernment and eDemocracy
  • AI and law

My research is centred on computational models of argumentation. In particular, I am interested in the concept of persuasive argument within practical reasoning, reasoning about action. I am interested in modelling the reasoning involved in situations where decisions about actions need to be made, how this is done through the exchange of persuasive arguments, often in the presence of uncertain information, and how this reasoning can be represented for use in intelligent, autonomous software agents. I have demonstrated the applicability of my work in a number of different domains including law, medicine and politics. Within one such application aimed at supporting political debates about actions, I have developed an online discussion forum named Parmenides which makes use of a specific theory of argumentation in order to aid the gathering and analysis of the arguments involved in the debates represented. The (old) prototypical version of Parmenides can be accessed here, though the system is currently undergoing further developments to improve and extend it, with the latest version appearing here (- this new version has been implemented, and is maintained, by Dan Cartwright). Further details of my research can be found in my publications list.

Research Projects

  • IMPACT: Integrated Method for Policy Making Using Argument Modelling and Computer Assisted Text Analysis

    I am the principal investigator at Liverpool on the IMPACT project, which is a European Framework 7 project (Grant Agreement No 247228) in the ICT for Governance and Policy Modeling theme (ICT-2009.7.3). The project runs from January 2010 to December 2013. My co-investigator on the project is Trevor Bench-Capon and our research assistant is Adam Wyner.

    IMPACT will conduct original research to develop and integrate formal, computational models of policy and arguments about policy, to facilitate deliberations about policy at a conceptual, language-independent level. These models will be used to develop and evaluate innovative prototype tools for supporting open, inclusive and transparent deliberations about public policy. To support the analysis of policy proposals in an inclusive way which respects the interests of all stakeholders, research on tools for reconstructing arguments from data resources distributed throughout the Internet will be conducted.

  • I was previously involved in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project, the Deeside Insurance Web Based Application Project, as academic support within the project team.