Deliberation scheduling for problem solving in time-constrained environments

We are interested in the problem faced by an agent with limited computational capabilities, embedded in a complex environment with other agents and processes not under its control. Careful management of computational resources is important for complex problem-solving tasks in which the time spent in decision making affects the quality of the responses generated by a system. This paper describes an approach to designing systems that are capable of taking their own computational resources into consideration during planning and problem solving. In particular, we address the design of systems that manage their computational resources by using expectations about the performance of decision-making procedures and preferences over the outcomes resulting from applying those procedures. Our approach is called deliberation scheduling. Deliberation scheduling involves the explicit allocation of computational resources to decision-making procedures based on the expected effect of those allocations on the system's performance.