CMNA 08
8th Workshop on Computational Models of Natural Argument

To be held in conjunction with ECAI 2008
Patras, Greece
21 July 2008

Important Dates

Deadline for long paper submission:	10 April 2008	CLOSED
Deadline for short papers/demos:	10 May 2008	CLOSED
Notification of acceptance/rejection:	27 May 2008	Accepted papers
ECAI early registration deadline:	30 June 2008	(register here)
Workshop Date:	21 July 2008	Preliminary Schedule

Objectives

The series of workshops on Computational Models of Natural Argument is continuing to attract high quality submissions from researchers around the world since its inception in 2001. Like the past editions, CMNA-8 intends to recognise and consolidate the critical mass that research in the field overlapping Argumentation Theory and Artificial Intelligence has developed in recent years. Potential for exploitation of research in the philosophical theory of argumentation, in informal logic, and in dialectics, have been recognised relatively recently by researchers in artificial intelligence, but already fruits of such cross fertilisation are beginning to ripen. Recent successes include agent system negotiation protocols that demonstrate higher levels of sophistication and robustness; argumentation-based models of evidential relations and legal processes that are more expressive; models of language generation that use rhetorical structures to produce effective arguments; groupwork tools that use argument to structure interaction and debate; computer-based learning tools that exploit monological and dialogical argument structures in designing pedagogic environments; decision support systems that build upon argumentation theoretic models of deliberation to better integrate with human reasoning; and models of knowledge engineering structured around core concepts of argument to simplify knowledge elicitation and representation problems. Furthermore, benefits have not been unilateral for AI, as demonstrated by the increasing presence of AI scholars in classical argumentation theory events and journals, and AI implementations of argument finding application in both research and pedagogic practice within philosophy and argumentation theory.

Topics

The workshop focuses on the issue of modelling "natural" argumentation. Naturalness may involve the use of means which are more immediate than language to illustrate a point, such as graphics or multimedia. Naturalness can also relate to the preference for one particular style of reasoning as opposed to another to structure complex arguments. Or to the use of more sophisticated rhetorical devices, interacting at various layers of abstraction. Or the exploitation of "extra-rational" characteristics of the audience, taking into account emotions and affective factors. Contributions are solicited addressing, but not limited to, the following areas of interest:

The characteristics of "natural" arguments: ontological aspects and cognitive issues.
The use of models from informal logic and argumentation theory, and in particular, approaches to specific schools of thought developed in informal logic and argumentation.
Rhetoric and affect: the role of emotions, personalities, etc. in models of argumentation.
The roles of licentiousness and deceit and the ethical implications of implemented systems demonstrating such features.
The linguistic characteristics of natural argumentation, including discourse markers, sentence format, referring expressions, and style. Persuasive discourse processing (discourse goals and structure, speaker/hearer models, content selection, etc.). Language dependence and multilingual approaches. Empirical work based on corpora looking at these topics would be especially welcomed.
Non-monotonic, defeasible and uncertain argumentation.
Natural argumentation and media: visual arguments, multi-modal arguments, spoken arguments.
Models of argumentation in multi-agent systems inspired by or based upon theories of human argument.
Empirically driven models of argument in AI and Law.
Evaluative arguments and their application in AI systems (such as decision support and advice giving).
Issues of domain specificity, and in particular, the independence of argumentation techniques from the domain of application.
Applications of computer supported collaborative argumentation, in realistic domains in which argument plays a key role, including pedagogy, e-democracy and public debate.
Applications of argumentation based systems, including, for example, the pedagogical, health-related, political, and promotional.
Methods to better convey the structure of complex argument, including representation and summarisation.
Tools for interacting with structures of argument, including visualisation tools and interfaces supporting natural, stylised or formal dialogue.
The building of computational resources such as online corpora related to argumentation.
early results from applications and implementations of the ideas from earlier CMNA workshops.

Paper Submission

The workshop encourages submissions in three categories:

Long papers, either reporting on completed work or offering a polemic discussion on a burning issue (up to 10 pages)
Short papers describing work in progress (up to 5 pages)
Demonstration of implemented systems: submissions should be accompanied by written reports (up to 3 pages). Authors should contact the organisers to ensure suitable equipment is available.

It is highly recommended to submit papers using the final camera-ready formatting style specified in the ECAI 08 Style Guide (except for the number of pages).

Paper submission will be handled by the Easychair conference system. Please submit your paper here.

Deadline for long paper submission: 10 April 2008

Deadline for short papers/demos: 10 May 2008

Notification of acceptance/rejection: 31 May 2008

Deadline for camera-ready paper: 10 June 2008

Workshop Dates: 21- 22 July 2008

Organizers

Floriana Grasso
University of Liverpool, UK
floriana at liverpool.ac.uk

Nancy Green
University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC
nlgreen at uncg.edu

Rodger Kibble
Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK
R.Kibble at gold.ac.uk

Chris Reed
University of Dundee, UK
chris at computing.dundee.ac.uk

Program Committee

Leila Amgoud, IRIT, France
Katie Atkinson, University of Liverpool, UK
Tim Bickmore, Northeastern University, Boston
Guido Boella, University of Turin, Italy
Karl Branting, The MITRE Corporation, Hanover, MD
Giuseppe Carenini, University of British Columbia, Canada
Fiorella de Rosis, University of Bari, Italy
Tom Gordon, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Berlin, Germany
Marco Guerini, ITC-IRST, Trento, Italy
Helmut Horacek, University of the Saarland, Germany
Anthony Hunter, University College London, UK
Chris Mellish, University of Aberdeen, UK
David Moore, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
Fabio Paglieri, ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy
Vincenzo Pallotta, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Cecile Paris, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
Paul Piwek, Open University, UK
Henry Prakken, University of Utrecht and University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Oliviero Stock, IRST, Trento, Italy
Doug Walton, University of Winnipeg, Canada
Adam Wyner, University of Liverpool, UK