Kai Wang

• Year

  2023

• Program

  AI2050

• Institution

  Georgia Institute of Technology

• Field of Study

  Computer Science

• Location

  USA

Kai Wang received his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Harvard University working with Professor Milind Tambe. Kai is an assistant professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests include AI for social impact, multi-agent systems, computational game theory, machine learning, and optimization, with a focus on challenges in health and environmental sustainability. One of Kai’s key contributions is the study and real-world deployment of decision-focused learning to provide intervention recommendations for societal challenges. Kai proposed integrating decision-making processes learned from stakeholders into machine learning to leverage domain knowledge and improve learning performance. Specifically, in collaboration with an Indian non-governmental organization, ARMMAN, Kai designed the first decision-focused learning algorithm for a mobile maternal health program with 2.9 million users to improve awareness of health information and reduce maternal mortality. The algorithm has been deployed and is currently used by more than 100,000 people with a 31% improvement in user engagement. In recognition of his technical contributions and real-world impact, Kai is recognized with the Siebel Scholars award and the best paper runner-up award at AAAI.