Using Autonomous Software Agents to Create the Next Generation of Decision Support Systems*

The purpose of this research is to explore the promise of autonomous software agents in Decision Support Systems (DSS). Because definitions of software agents extant in the literature are divergent, we develop and provide a descriptive definition useful for our purpose. The benefits of agents and the particular characteristics of agents leading to DSS enrichment are examined. To facilitate this we build a DSS described elsewhere in the literature and enhance it with different types of autonomous software agents. From this experience, a general framework for agent‐enabled DSS is suggested. It is concluded that such a DSS in general will be more difficult to build than traditional DSS, but at least some agent‐enabled DSS will bring significant benefit to users.