THE FUTURE IS HERE

Resource Allocation in Practice – Toby Walsh, Professor, University of South Wales

Abstract: How do we allocate scarce sources? How do we fairly allocate costs? These are two pressing challenges facing society today. I discuss three recent projects concerning resource and cost allocation. In the first, we have been working with FoodBank Local, a social startup working in collaboration with food bank charities around the world to optimise the logistics of collecting and distributing donated food. Before we can distribute this food, we must decide how to allocate it to different charities and food kitchens. This gives rise to a fair division problem with several new dimensions, rarely considered in the literature. In the second, we consider how donated kidneys are allocated to waiting patients in Australia and New Zealand. Again, this gives rise to a fair division problem with a number of dimensions rarely considered in the academic literature. In the third, we have been looking at cost allocation within the distribution network of a large multinational company. This also has several new dimensions rarely considered in the literature.

About the Speaker: Toby Walsh is a Laureate Fellow, Scientia Professor of AI at the University of New South Wales, and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He was named by the Australian newspaper as a “rock star” of Australia’s digital revolution. Professor Walsh is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives. He has, for example, been a leading voice in the discussion about killer robots, speaking at the UN in New York and Geneva on the topic. He appears regularly on TV and radio. He has authored two books on AI for a general audience, the most recent titled “2062: The World that AI Made” which is available in Chinese, English, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish and Vietnamese.