Good morning, good afternoon, and good night. Today, we gather to partake in intellectual conversations with Prof. Vincent Conitzer.
Vince has contributed his leadership and insights to multiple disciplines in academia, industry practices, and beyond. He has been particularly active in the causes related to artificial intelligence (AI), computational economics, and innovative education. Even though Vince is a professor of many titles, I admire him the most for his charisma and devotion to being a forever pioneer. In the past years, Prof. Conitzer has pioneered leadership positions at the intersection of computer science and economics. He served as general chair for ACM Conference on Economics and Computation in 2016 and is the founding editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Economics and Computation, where he leads the reviews and editions of works in economics and computation. He also is the founder and president of Econorithms LLC, a company focusing on the design of algorithmically driven auctions, exchanges, and other markets.
Recently, the Cooperative AI Foundation (CAIF) announced that its first major grant, of $500,000, will be to support the Foundations of Cooperative AI Lab (FOCAL) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), led by Prof. Vincent Conitzer. Elon Musk claims that AI is humanity’s “biggest existential threat.” AI’s lack of transparency and interpretability has aroused extensive concerns. As an expert in the field, Prof. Conitzer has taken the lead in the research of AI ethics. As Head of Technical AI Engagement at Institute for Ethics in AI, Vince contributes his technical knowledge of AI to discussions with philosophers at Oxford. He is also elected as chair of One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) at Stanford University, leading the study to anticipate how the effects of artificial intelligence will ripple through every aspect of how people work, live, and play. He co-chairs the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES) in 2022, editing academic works on AI ethics. Now, let’s welcome Prof. Vincent Conitzer to share his unique vision, and profound insights on Cooperative AI: “AI Agents May Cooperate Better If They Don’t Resemble Us.” Welcome, Vince!
Event description: what will happen when "computer science meets economics”? In this guest lecture open to all DKU-Duke Community, Prof. Vincent Conitzer (Vince) presents answers from the frontiers of science and humanity. On his course site, Vince says, “In recent years, there has been a surge of interaction between computer scientists and economists. This interaction is driven both by necessity and opportunity. On the one hand, as computer systems become more interconnected, multiple parties must interact in the same environment and compete for scarce resources, which necessarily introduces economic phenomena. On the other hand, in the past, economic mechanisms (such as auctions and exchanges) have been designed to require very limited computing and communication resources, as they would otherwise be impractical. These days, computation and communication pose much less of a constraint, which presents an opportunity to create highly efficient, computationally intensive mechanisms.”
Backgrounds: Prof. Vincent Conitzer (Vince) is the pioneer in research, education, and leadership at the interface of computer science and economics. He designed and implemented the pioneering course COMPSCI 323 (and 590.08, and ECON 336): Computational Microeconomics at Duke University and published a description of the course at AAAI’12 (Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence). Inspired by Prof. Vincent Conitzer (Vince), Prof. Luyao Zhang (Sunshine) designed and implemented Compsci/Econ 206 Computational Microeconomics at Duke Kunshan University in similar spirits together with her passion for interdisciplinary research, scholarship of teaching and learning, and cultivating undergraduate research.
Speaker bios: Vincent Conitzer is the Kimberly J. Jenkins Distinguished University Professor of New Technologies and Professor of Computer Science, Professor of Economics, and Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He is also Head of Technical AI Engagement at the Institute for Ethics in AI, and Professor of Computer Science and Philosophy, at the University of Oxford. He received Ph.D. (2006) and M.S. (2003) degrees in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and an A.B. (2001) degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. Conitzer works on artificial intelligence (AI). Much of his work has focused on AI and game theory, for example designing algorithms for the optimal strategic placement of defensive resources. More recently, he has started to work on AI and ethics: how should we determine the objectives that AI systems pursue, when these objectives have complex effects on various stakeholders? Conitzer has received the 2021 ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award, the Social Choice and Welfare Prize, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, an NSF CAREER award, the inaugural Victor Lesser dissertation award, an honorable mention for the ACM dissertation award, and several awards for papers and service at the AAAI and AAMAS conferences. He has also been named a Guggenheim Fellow, a Sloan Fellow, a Kavli Fellow, a Bass Fellow, an ACM Fellow, a AAAI Fellow, and one of AI's Ten to Watch. He has served as program and/or general chair of the AAAI, AAMAS, AIES, COMSOC, and EC conferences. Conitzer and Preston McAfee were the founding Editors-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Economics and Computation (TEAC).
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