arXiv AI

Replication or Corroboration? An Axiomatic Framework for Evidential Dependence in Multi-Agent Debate

The paper introduces an axiomatic framework to distinguish replication from corroboration in multi‑agent debates. It formalizes the tension between counting report occurrences and merging matching content, defines root replication invariance (RRI) as a threshold‑uniform replication immunity, and establishes an information boundary that prevents judges from ignoring replicas while responding to fresh roots. The authors propose the lineage quotient to preserve distinct evidential roots and extend the framework to quantitative bipolar argumentation, providing a tight closed‑form response modulus validated by exhaustive audits on thousands of debate profiles.

arXiv AI
Oct 2

Actions with Receipts: Jointly Binding Claims, Evidence, and Execution for Replayable Tool-Agent Auditing

The paper introduces a claim‑anchored execution contract that binds a tool‑using agent’s emitted claim to its exact source span, the ordered execution prefix that produced it, and the source version and access state observed. Each receipt contains deterministic anchors, source identifiers, offsets, hashes, quotes, and a domain‑separated execution commitment, allowing a verifier to reconstruct these bindings before semantic or task labels are joined. The contract defines seven independently testable properties and demonstrates high detection rates against cross‑object attacks, with strong performance on conflict‑aware support guard evaluations.

By Miaobo Hu, Shuhao Hu, Xiaobo Guo, Xin Wang, Bokun Wang, Yina Sa, Daren Zha, Jun Xiao
arXiv AI
Sep 3

Epistemic Sybil Resistance: Multiplying AI Agents Without Multiplying Evidence

The paper introduces the concept of an epistemic Sybil problem in multi‑agent AI systems, where multiple agents may produce seemingly independent reports that actually stem from the same underlying evidence. It formalizes this issue using information‑theoretic measures and demonstrates through large‑scale experiments that naive aggregation of replicated reports can severely degrade inference accuracy unless the system accounts for shared evidence ancestry and correlated extraction errors. The study shows that aggregators that track evidential dependence rather than merely report multiplicity or similarity achieve better calibration and inference performance.

By Marc Bara
arXiv AI
Sep 24

Preregistered Belief Revision Contracts

The paper introduces Preregistered Belief Revision Contracts (PBRC), a protocol that separates open communication from admissible epistemic change in deliberative multi-agent systems. PBRC fixes evidence triggers, revision operators, priority rules, and fallback policies, requiring that belief changes cite preregistered triggers and validated evidence tokens. The authors prove that PBRC prevents confidence inflation from conformity, preserves auditability, ensures epistemic accountability, and characterizes enforced belief trajectories under token-invariant contracts.

By Saad Alqithami
arXiv AI
Sep 3

ClaimReceipt: Verifying Evidence Sufficiency and Coverage in Agent Evaluations

The paper introduces ClaimReceipt, a specification and verifier that checks whether a claim in an agent evaluation can be recomputed from retained evidence (sufficiency) and whether the evidence covers the entire experiment set (coverage). Using the CR‑2 verifier on 1,392 historical records, the authors demonstrate accurate reproduction of audit verdicts, non‑redundant field groups, and zero false positives on semantic faults. In a prospective CR‑3 run, the system correctly flags missing receipts and preserves coverage when private evidence is withheld, while adding minimal overhead to inference time and transaction size.

By Peiying Zhu, Sidi Chang
arXiv AI
Aug 26

Rules Before Oracles: Auditable, User-Configurable Argument Selection for Deliberative Polling

The paper proposes a transparent, user‑configurable rule for selecting arguments in deliberative polls, replacing opaque learned rankers. It formalises argument selection over bipolar justification sets, introduces seven civic recommender criteria, and presents a one‑hop reversed endorsement flow rule that meets them. Experiments on 17,000 simulated runs show the rule performs comparably to random on coverage but outperforms other methods on endorsement mass and robustness under adversarial pressure.

By Muntaser Syed, Markus Zanker, Marius Silaghi
arXiv AI
Sep 10

Causal Attribution for Agentic Decisions: Estimators, Coupling, and a Traceability Specification

The paper presents a framework for causal attribution in agentic AI systems, outlining estimators and conditions where they fail. It distinguishes between marginal total effects and common‑random‑number total effects, introduces a natural direct effect under pinned downstreams, and derives a coupling method to keep direct effects estimable. The authors also propose a traceability specification to meet upcoming regulatory requirements for high‑risk AI systems.

By Ajay Pravin Mahale (Hochschule Trier)