A conversation with Prof. Mykel Kochenderfer about the art and science of decision making, working with giant institutions, and optimism.
Find me at cristian@ccb.life
About the Guest:
Mykel Kochenderfer is Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Computer Science at Stanford University. He is the director of the Stanford Intelligent Systems Laboratory (SISL), conducting research on advanced algorithms and analytical methods for the design of robust decision making systems. Of particular interest are systems for air traffic control, unmanned aircraft, and automated driving where decisions must be made in uncertain, dynamic environments while maintaining safety and efficiency. Research at SISL focuses on efficient computational methods for deriving optimal decision strategies from high-dimensional, probabilistic problem representations.
References:
- Mykel Kochenderfer's Algorithms for Decision Making (textbook): https://amzn.to/40oDchp
- Mykel Kochenderfer's Algorithms for Optimization (textook): https://amzn.to/46WWkW1
- John von Neumann & Oskar Morgenstern's Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (book): https://amzn.to/3QpqSbQ
Set Up:
- Camera: https://amzn.to/3PZVscb (don't laugh)
- Microphone: https://amzn.to/46f3pB5
- Teleprompter Stand: https://amzn.to/3tgS98y
- Telepromter App: https://amzn.to/46jdH31
- Teleprompter Screen: https://amzn.to/3PNfKFI (yup)
- Headphones: https://amzn.to/46gMSwo
Timestamps:
0:00 On Decision Making, feat. Mykel Kochenderfer | Traces, Appendix 11
03:33 Debugging in Mid-Air
09:23 Decision Making
13:57 Utility
18:38 Parameter Learning
22:50 Structure Learning
28:22 Markov Decision Processes
32:26 Bellman's Equation
46:18 Simulating Irrationality
53:14 Leveraging Randomness
59:55 Life's A POMDP
01:09:39 Collaborating with NASA, the FAA, and Healthcare
01:18:12 Julia (The Programming Language)
01:27:26 Final Thoughts
