FTE: A Fuzzy Logic Based Trust Establishment Model for Intelligent Agents

Multiagent systems are commonly used for the study and implementation of distributed systems and virtual online societies. Trust has long been recognized as a vital notion in multiagent systems, where agents can be self-centred, miscellaneous, and misleading. Most existing trust models focus on creating algorithms for trusters to model the honesty of trustees in order to make effective decisions about which trustees to interact with. If agents' interactions are based on trust, trustworthy trustees will have a greater impact on interactions' results. This work describes a fuzzy logic based trust establishment model for intelligent agents using indirect feedback (FTE) that goes beyond trust evaluation to outline actions to guide trustees (instead of trusters). The model uses the retention of trusters and a fuzzy logic engine to model trusters' behaviors. The model uses both the retention behavior of the partnering truster and the average retention rate of all trusters in the society to adjusts the utility gain the trustee provides when interacting with each truster. The proposed model does not depend on direct feedback, nor does it rely on current reputation of trustees in the environment. Simulation results indicate that trustees empowered with the proposed model can be selected more by rational trusters.