Enhancing Collective Intelligence through Learned Aggregation
Abstract: Human decision-making is inherently flawed by individual and social biases that distort our perception of truth, often leading to sub-optimal group decisions. We explore an alternative to consensus decision-making: aggregating independent judgments to minimize the effects of biases such as groupthink and herding. The key hypothesis is that by carefully optimizing the collectivization of knowledge, it will be substantially harder for individuals to impose their biases on the final decision. The core of our work therefore involves the development and analysis of algorithms designed to effectively aggregate diverse sources of expertise. We focus on transparent aggregation methods that use online machine/reinforcement learning to take into account the nuances of individual expertise and the impact of biases, aiming to filter out noise and enhance the reliability of collective decision-making under uncertainty. Our findings demonstrate a marked improvement in decision-making accuracy and a reduction in bias, underscoring the potential of technology-assisted methods in fostering collective intelligence. We also show how collectives benefit from the inclusion of AI participants who complement human strengths, leading hybrid groups to improved outcomes when compared to either purely human or artificial groups.
Short bio: Axel Abels is currently a post-doctoral researcher affiliated to the Université Libre de Bruxelles' Machine Learning Group and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel's AI Lab. He studied Computer Science at the Université Libre de Bruxelles where his master's thesis extended the applicability of Deep Reinforcement Learning to Multi-Objective problems. His PhD research focused on Collective Decision-Making (CDM), and more specifically how machine/reinforcement learning can be applied to extract the wisdom of the crowd. His current research builds on his PhD, further exploring fairness in CDM as well as the benefits of human-AI hybrid crowds.
Presenter: Axel Abels (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Date: 2025-02-28 12:00 (CET)
Location: Oficinas ELLIS Alicante, Muelle Pte., 5 – Edificio A, Alicante 03001, Alicante ES
This talk is part of the ELLIS / ULB-MLG Workshop.