Evan Albers

Biography

I am a DPhil candidate studying computer science. I am supervised by Professor Michael Wooldridge and Dr. Anisoara Calinescu. My research concerns prices. I am particularly concerned with what we can learn from prices, and the resulting implications for markets. I borrow from dynamical systems theory, information theory, agent-based modeling, and machine learning to study market structures. It is, in a manner of speaking, a chaotic mix. I hope to demonstrate that prices are "degenerate observables" of their underlying market dynamics. Insofar as prices are degenerate, they perform a lossy compression. Important information for predicting the future trajectory of the system is lost in mapping market dynamics to prices. I hope to then investigate the conditions under which prices become less degenerate (generic), and serve as better indicators of market activity. In my past work, I have argued for the adoption of agent-based modeling in economic investigation as a complement to analytic analysis. Before starting my DPhil, I studied computer science, philosophy, and economics at Bowdoin College. I then completed a masters in artificial intelligence at Northeastern University. When I'm not working, I am usually gone rowing. I still enjoy studying ethics, and thinking about the ethical ramifications of AI.