This is my research. It’s an ongoing project that I will be discussing as part of my PhD dissertation, which I plan to defend in a few months. I had hoped to finish my PhD before this project got attention, but the website is already live and I can’t really complain. In fact, I’m really happy with the interest and I want to engage.
Here’s a few important facts about pplapi:
the agents are synthetic, not real people
the numbers are based on population parameters, so in aggregate, pplapi approaches reality
at the individual level, these agents exist in the “uncanny valley” of kindof-sortof-implausible demographics
some dimensions have more noise (error) than others; income is the easiest example
the research is ongoing, so there many opportunities to improve
one way to “use” pplapi is with an agent-based modelling environment, like NetLogo or MASON
This work is not merely a technical demonstration; it serves as a proof-of-concept “simulacrum” of humanity, which is axiomatic in my dissertation. I believe this work also raises a host of moral and ethical questions that were previously abstract but are now easier to comprehend. I do not believe pplapi itself has crossed any ethical boundaries, but I think the line of questioning is now clearer.
This is my research. It’s an ongoing project that I will be discussing as part of my PhD dissertation, which I plan to defend in a few months. I had hoped to finish my PhD before this project got attention, but the website is already live and I can’t really complain. In fact, I’m really happy with the interest and I want to engage.
Here’s a few important facts about pplapi:
the agents are synthetic, not real people
the numbers are based on population parameters, so in aggregate, pplapi approaches reality
at the individual level, these agents exist in the “uncanny valley” of kindof-sortof-implausible demographics
some dimensions have more noise (error) than others; income is the easiest example
the research is ongoing, so there many opportunities to improve
one way to “use” pplapi is with an agent-based modelling environment, like NetLogo or MASON
This work is not merely a technical demonstration; it serves as a proof-of-concept “simulacrum” of humanity, which is axiomatic in my dissertation. I believe this work also raises a host of moral and ethical questions that were previously abstract but are now easier to comprehend. I do not believe pplapi itself has crossed any ethical boundaries, but I think the line of questioning is now clearer.