AI Glossary
The complete dictionary of Artificial Intelligence
CAP Theorem
Fundamental principle in distributed systems stating that it is impossible to simultaneously guarantee Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance in a distributed system.
Paxos Protocol
Quorum-based consensus algorithm, fault-tolerant, that ensures consistency and safety of a distributed system by allowing a set of agents to agree on a single value.
Raft Protocol
Alternative consensus algorithm to Paxos, designed to be more understandable, which uses an elected leader model to manage log replication and ensure consistency among agents.
Collective Decision Making
Process by which a group of autonomous and heterogeneous agents reach a unified decision, often through aggregation of individual preferences or interactive deliberation.
Belief Fusion
Process of combining information or beliefs from multiple agents, often conflicting, to form a single coherent knowledge base.
Argumentation Theory
Computational model where agents construct, exchange, and evaluate arguments and counter-arguments to reach a justified decision or consensus.
Gossip Protocol
Decentralized communication mechanism where each agent periodically transmits information to a random subset of other agents, ensuring robust propagation to achieve epidemic consensus.
Federated Consensus
Decision-making approach where subgroups of agents reach local consensus that are subsequently aggregated to form a global decision, reducing coordination complexity.
Order Aggregation
Consensus technique aiming to combine the rankings or preference orders from multiple agents into a single collective preference order, minimizing overall dissatisfaction.
Consensus by Approximation
Strategy where agents agree on a solution that is sufficiently close to their individual preferences, without requiring perfect agreement, to accelerate the decision-making process.
Logical Clock Synchronization
Essential mechanism for consensus in asynchronous systems, using clocks such as Lamport or Vector clocks, to order events and establish causality between agent actions.
Quorum
Minimum number of agents or votes required for a decision to be considered valid and binding for the entire group, ensuring sufficient participation in the consensus process.