A Formal Account of Deception

This study focuses on the question: "What are the computational formalisms at the heart of deceptive and counter-deceptive machines?" We formulate deception using a dynamic epistemic logic. Three different types of deception are considered: deception by lying, deception by bluffing and deception by truth-telling, depending on whether a speaker believes what he/she says or not. Next we consider various situations where an act of deceiving happens. Intentional deception is accompanied by a speaker's intent to deceive. Indirect deception happens when false information is carried over from person to person. Self-deception is an act of deceiving the self. We investigate formal properties of different sorts of deception.