Milind Tambe, Harvard University

Abstract

For the past 15 years, my team and I have been advancing AI and multiagent systems research towards social impact, focusing on topics of public health, conservation and public safety. We have focused on addressing a key cross-cutting challenge: how to effectively deploy our limited intervention resources. In this talk, I will present results from work in using AI for addressing challenges in public health such as Maternal and Child care interventions, HIV prevention, and TB prevention. Achieving social impact in these domains often requires methodological advances. To that end, I will highlight key research advances in multiagent reasoning and learning, in particular in, restless multiarmed bandits, influence maximization in social networks, and decision-focused learning. In pushing this research agenda, our ultimate goal is to facilitate local communities and non-profits to directly benefit from advances in AI tools and techniques.

[Video]   [Slides]

Speaker Bio: Milind Tambe is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science and Director of Center for Research in Computation and Society at Harvard University; concurrently, he is also Principal Scientist and Director "AI for Social Good" at Google Research. He is recipient of the AAAI Feigenbaum prize, IJCAI John McCarthy Award,  AAMAS ACM Autonomous Agents Research Award, AAAI Robert S. Engelmore Memorial Lecture Award, and he is a fellow of AAAI and ACM. He is also a recipient of the INFORMS Wagner prize for excellence in Operations Research practice and Rist Prize from MORS (Military Operations Research Society). For his work on AI and public safety, he has received Columbus Fellowship Foundation Homeland security award and commendations and certificates of appreciation from the US Coast Guard, the Federal Air Marshals Service and airport police at the city of Los Angeles.