Democra-CS: Computational Perspectives on Democracy

In this talk, I will discuss my research on the theoretical foundations of two new paradigms of democracy: virtual democracy and liquid democracy.

Liquid democracy is a collective decision making paradigm that allows voters to transitively delegate their votes. In this realm, we examine two questions. First, is liquid democracy always better than direct (non-delegative) democracy? And, second, how can we mitigate the problem of "super-voters," where some voters accrue a large amount of power because of transitive delegations?

Virtual democracy aims to automate ethical decision-making by learning models of individuals' ethical preferences and letting these models participate in elections over possible actions. My work studies aggregation methods, or voting rules, for making a final decision based on predicted votes. Additionally, I will discuss our ongoing efforts to implement virtual democracy through a partnership with a local nonprofit organization in Pittsburgh and researchers at CMU's Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

Bio: Anson Kahng is a fifth- and final-year PhD candidate in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University, where he is fortunate to be advised by Ariel Procaccia (now at Harvard). His primary research interests are in theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, with a focus on the intersection of computer science and democracy. Prior to Carnegie Mellon, he graduated from Harvard College, where he was advised by David Parkes.

LOCATION: Zoom LINK: https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/91692091719?pwd=cFRmYUc1MUpsbnlkRXpQcldkUlJTZz09

When 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Contact Email cds-admin@bu.edu
Contact Organization Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences
Fees Free
Speakers Anson Kahng