Multiagent live programming systems: models and prospects for critical applications

Abstract

Live programming constitutes a human-computer symbiosis in which a human creative activity and a continuous computer execution influence each other. Usually, there is a medium of expression called "code" that the human(s) use to express desired behavior on the part of the computer, and the computer provides its feedback in the form of textual, graphical, audio, or other output. The most popular domain for live programming has been music synthesis ("live coding"), but the key features of live programming suggest it can play an important role in other applications, even process control or emergency management. This paper breaks down live programming systems in terms of agents, both human and computational, their roles, and representations they typically create and act upon. It then comments on how multi-agent live programming systems could add new flexibility to information systems such as those that manage critical infrastructure or emergency response activity, such as during a COVID-19 type of pandemic or after a major earthquake.