Milind Tambe (1965–) is a pioneer in artificial intelligence research for social good.
Public health, education, safety and security, housing, and
environmental protection are some of the frequent areas where AI is being used
to solve societal issues.
Tambe has developed software that preserves endangered
species in game reserves, social network algorithms that promote healthy eating
habits, and applications that track social ills and community difficulties and
provide suggestions to help people feel better.
Tambe was up in India, where the robot novels of Isaac
Asimov and the first Star Trek series (1966–1969) inspired him to study about
artificial intelligence.
Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science
awarded him his PhD.
His first study focused on the creation of AI software for
security.
After the 2006 Mumbai commuter train attacks, he got
interested in the possibilities of artificial intelligence in this subject.
His doctoral research revealed important game theory
insights into the nature of random encounters and collaboration.
Tambe's ARMOR program generates risk assessment scores by
randomly scheduling human security patrols and police checkpoints.
Following random screening processes, Los Angeles Airport
police uncovered a vehicle carrying five rifles, ten pistols, and a thousand rounds
of ammunition in 2009.
Federal air marshals and port security patrols utilize more
latest versions of the program to arrange their flights.
Today, Tambe's group uses deep learning algorithms to aid
wildlife conservation agents in distinguishing between poachers and animals
captured by infrared cameras on unmanned drone aircraft in real time.
Within three-tenths of a second of their arrival near
animals, the Systematic Poacher Detector (SPOT) can identify poachers.
SPOT was tested in Zimbabwe and Malawi park reserves before
being deployed in Botswana.
PAWS, a successor technology that predicts poacher
activities, has been implemented in Cambodia and might be used in more than 50
nations across the globe in the future years.
Tambe's algorithms can simulate population migrations and
epidemic illness propagation in order to improve the efficacy of public health
campaigns.
Several nonobvious patterns have been discovered by the
algorithm, which will help to enhance illness management.
Tambe's team created a third algorithm to assist drug misuse
counselors in dividing addiction rehabilitation groups into smaller subgroups
where healthy social ties may flourish.
Climate change, gang violence, HIV awareness, and
counterterrorism are among the other AI-based answers.
Tambe is the Helen N. and Emmett H. Jones Professor of Engineering at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering (USC).
He is the cofounder and codirector of USC's Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, and he has received several awards, including the John McCarthy Award and the Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice.
Both the Association for the Advancement of Artificial
Intelligence (AAAI) and the Association for Computing Machinery have named him
a Fellow (ACM).
Tambe is the cofounder and director of research of Avata
Intelligence, a company that sells artificial intelligence management software
to help companies with data analysis and decision-making.
LAX, the US Coast Guard, the Transportation Security
Administration, and the Federal Air Marshals Service all employ his methods.
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