We refer to social autonomy in a collaborative relationship among agents based on delegation and help.
We address the problem of adjustable autonomy, i.e., we discuss when modifying the assigned/received delegation entails a corresponding enlargement or restriction of autonomy and at which level. We stress in particular the role played in autonomy by: 1) the degree of openness of delegation (execution autonomy), 2) the allowed initiative in (re)starting negotiation (meta-autonomy), 3) the degree and kind of control, and 4) the strength of delegation with respect to interaction.We show how
the adjustability of delegation and autonomy is actually bilateral, because not only the user (delegator, trustor, client) can adjust the autonomy of the agent (delegee, trustee, contractor), but the agent can also have (cooperative) reasons for and the ability to change the received delegation and modify its own autonomy in it. Adjustment is also bidirectional (from more autonomy to less autonomy,
or vice versa), and multidimensional. Finally, we analyze some reasons for modifying the assigned autonomy and show how the adjustment of autonomy depends on a crisis of trust ; vice versa, the delegees adjustment of its own autonomy depends on some disagreement about the trust received from the delegator, and, in particular, either a higher or lower confidence in itself or in external circumstances. Some preliminary
hints about necessary protocols for adjusting the interaction with agents are provided.
