Economics and Artificial Intelligence

When this special issue was announced, we had to explain why we thought that the growth of the Internet would strongly influence the relations between computer scientists and economists. By now, such an explanation is hardly necessary. Within the broad fields of economics and computer science, the subspecialties that have the most points of contact are Game Theory and Artificial Intelligence. We use the term ‘‘Artificial Intelligence’’ for the science and technology of building automated decision-makers that can act effectively in an environment consisting of both human and artificial decision-makers. We use the term ‘‘Game Theory’’ to describe the science that analyzes environments in which the outcome depends on the strategic decisions of a group of decision-makers. Relations between game theory and computer science have been established in the past. An excellent example of the deep connection between game theory and computer science is illustrated by the TARK TheoretiŽ cal Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge conferences former title: . Theoretical Aspects of Reasoning about Knowledge, e.g., Halpern, 1986 . These conferences have emphasized works on the foundations of knowledge and rationality that are of interest to both fields. Such works naturally appear in this issue. Papers on knowledge and rationality in this issue include the following: