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What is This?

Imagine two AI agents need to work together and split up tasks. How do they decide who does what? That’s negotiation! Just like humans negotiate prices or split chores, AI agents need to negotiate too.

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Simple Example

Scenario: Two agents need to complete 10 tasks, but each can only do 5. Without Negotiation:
  • Both try to do the same tasks ❌
  • Some tasks never get done ❌
  • Chaos! ❌
With Negotiation:
  • Agent A: “I’ll do tasks 1-5”
  • Agent B: “I’ll do tasks 6-10”
  • Agreement reached ✅
  • All tasks completed ✅

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Why Do Agents Need to Negotiate?

In the real world, agents need to: Share Resources:
  • “I need the database for 5 minutes”
  • “Okay, I’ll use it after you”
Split Work:
  • “You handle customer emails”
  • “I’ll handle phone calls”
Resolve Conflicts:
  • “We both want to use the API at the same time”
  • “Let’s take turns”
Make Decisions:
  • “Should we use approach A or B?”
  • “Let’s vote and decide together”

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What We Learned from Research

Researchers tested how AI agents negotiate using NegotiationArena.

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Interesting Discovery: The “Babysitting” Effect

What happens:
  • Smart agent (GPT-4) negotiates with less smart agent (GPT-3.5)
  • GPT-4 tries to help GPT-3.5 understand
  • GPT-4 ends up accepting worse deals for itself
It’s like: A chess master playing with a beginner and letting them win to keep it fun.

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Different Strategies

AI agents use different negotiation styles: Cooperative:
  • “Let’s both win”
  • “How can we help each other?”
Competitive:
  • “I want the best deal for me”
  • “You take what’s left”
Adaptive:
  • Starts cooperative
  • Becomes competitive if needed

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Real-World Examples

Example 1: Task Splitting
  • 3 agents need to process 100 files
  • They negotiate: “I’ll do 40, you do 30, you do 30”
  • Work gets done faster
Example 2: Resource Sharing
  • 5 agents need to use the same database
  • They negotiate time slots: “I’ll use it 9-10am, you use it 10-11am”
  • No conflicts, everyone gets a turn
Example 3: Making Decisions
  • Team of agents needs to choose a solution
  • They negotiate and vote
  • Reach agreement without human help
Example 4: Pricing
  • Agent A offers a service
  • Agent B wants to use it
  • They negotiate a fair price automatically

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How It Will Work in Bindu

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Simple Example Code

from bindu.negotiation import NegotiationGame

# Set up a negotiation between two agents
game = NegotiationGame(
    scenario="split_tasks",
    agents=[agent_a, agent_b],
    rules={
        "max_rounds": 5,      # Try 5 times to reach agreement
        "timeout": "2 minutes" # Give up after 2 minutes
    }
)

# Let them negotiate
result = await game.play()

# See what they agreed on
print(f"Agreement: {result.agreement}")
print(f"Agent A gets: {result.agent_a_tasks}")
print(f"Agent B gets: {result.agent_b_tasks}")

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What You’ll Get

Built-in Strategies:
  • Cooperative (“let’s both win”)
  • Competitive (“I want the best deal”)
  • Adaptive (“adjust based on situation”)
Automatic Tracking:
  • See which negotiations succeeded
  • See which strategies work best
  • Learn from past negotiations
Safety Features:
  • Agreements are binding (can’t back out)
  • Time limits (no endless negotiations)
  • Fair rules (no cheating)

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Current Status

🚀 In Progress - We’re building this now!

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The Big Picture

Without Negotiation: 
Agent A: "I'm doing task 1"
Agent B: "I'm doing task 1 too"
→ Conflict! ❌
→ Human has to step in and decide ❌
With Negotiation: 
Agent A: "I want task 1"
Agent B: "I want task 1 too"
→ They negotiate ✅
→ Agent A gets task 1, Agent B gets task 2 ✅
→ Problem solved automatically! ✅

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Simple Summary

What Negotiation Does: Lets AI agents make deals and agreements with each other Why It’s Useful:
  • Agents can work together without human help
  • Automatically split work fairly
  • Resolve conflicts on their own
  • Make group decisions
Real Benefit: Your agents become a team that can organize themselves

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Want to Learn More?