Blockchain Self-Policing for Autonomous Agent Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current autonomous robots lack effective self-direction and are vulnerable to tampering or sensor spoofing, leading to unintended harmful behaviors, as they rely on simple rules that can be compromised or hacked.
Innovation Solution
Implementing self-policing systems among autonomous agent devices using distributed decision-making and a tamper-evident public ledger (blockchain) to monitor and respond to deviations in behavior, allowing other devices to physically restrain or override a malfunctioning agent to limit negative consequences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If autonomous agents use simple over-arching rules to govern their actions, then the system is easier to operate and control, but the system becomes vulnerable to tampering and sensor spoofing, leading to harmful behaviors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the autonomous agents into policing groups where each agent monitors and evaluates the behavior of others. This segmentation distributes the control function across multiple independent agents rather than relying on a single centralized rule system, making the system more resilient to tampering while maintaining operational simplicity through standardized behavior evaluation protocols
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a blockchain-based public ledger as an intermediary that records and verifies the behavior of autonomous agents. This intermediary provides a tamper-evident record of agent actions and evaluations, enabling secure verification of behavior without requiring complex point-to-point communication protocols between agents
2Device complexity
If a single master device controls the autonomous agents, then the system is simpler to manage, but the master device becomes a single point of failure that can be tampered with to defeat the self-policing system
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the single master device by segmenting the control function across multiple autonomous agents in policing groups. Each agent has equal capability to evaluate and respond to behavior deviations, distributing the critical control function and removing the single point of failure while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized interaction protocols
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the control and evaluation functions into each autonomous agent itself, rather than separating them into a master controller and subordinate agents. This merging enables distributed decision-making where each agent independently evaluates behavior and initiates appropriate responses, simplifying the system structure by eliminating the master device while enhancing reliability through redundancy
3Extent of automation
If autonomous agents are allowed to police their own behavior independently, then the system achieves higher autonomy, but individual agents can be compromised to deviate from governing rules
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where autonomous agents continuously monitor and evaluate the behavior of other agents in their policing groups. This inter-agent feedback loop ensures that deviations from governing rules are detected and responded to by the collective, maintaining consistency with governing rules while preserving the high autonomy of individual agents
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses blockchain technology to record and verify agent behaviors in a tamper-evident manner before potential compromises can take effect. The public ledger provides preliminary verification of agent actions and evaluations, enabling the system to detect and respond to deviations early while maintaining agent independence and high automation
Data Source
AI summary
A device includes communication circuitry configured to receive a message indicating an observation of an agent device. The device further includes a processor coupled to the communication circuitry and a memory. The memory stores instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include accessing a blockchain data structure. The blockchain data structure includes one or more blocks including data descriptive of observations of a plurality of agent devices, where the plurality of agent devices including the agent device. The operations also include determining, based on one or more blocks of the blockchain data structure, a behavior of the agent device. The operations also include determine whether the behavior satisfies a behavior criterion associated with the agent device.