{"type":"ScholarlyArticle","title":"Empathy and AI: Achieving Equitable Microtransit for Underserved Communities","authors":[{"name":"Eleni Bardaka","slug":"eleni-bardaka","given":"Eleni","family":"Bardaka","affiliation":"North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC 27695 , USA"},{"name":"Pascal Van Hentenryck","slug":"pascal-van-hentenryck","given":"Pascal","family":"Van Hentenryck","affiliation":"Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA 30332 , USA"},{"name":"Crystal Chen Lee","slug":"crystal-chen-lee","given":"Crystal Chen","family":"Lee","affiliation":"North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC 27695 , USA"},{"name":"Christopher B. Mayhorn","slug":"christopher-b-mayhorn","given":"Christopher B.","family":"Mayhorn","affiliation":"North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC 27695 , USA"},{"name":"Kai Monast","slug":"kai-monast","given":"Kai","family":"Monast","affiliation":"North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC 27695 , USA"},{"name":"Samitha Samaranayake","slug":"samitha-samaranayake","given":"Samitha","family":"Samaranayake","affiliation":"Cornell University , Ithaca , NY 14853 , USA"},{"name":"Munindar P. Singh","slug":"munindar-p-singh","given":"Munindar P.","family":"Singh","affiliation":"North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC 27695 , USA"}],"abstract":"This paper describes a newly launched project that will produce a new approach to public microtransit for underserved communities. Public microtransit cannot rely on pricing signals to manage demand, and current approaches face the challenges of simultaneously being underutilized and overextended. This project conceives of the setting as a sociotechnical system. Its main idea is to engage users through AI agents in conjunction with platform constraints to find solutions that purely technical conceptions cannot find. The project was specified over an intense series of discussions with key stakeholders (riders, city government, and nongovernmental agencies) and brings together expertise in the disciplines of AI, Operations Research, Urban Planning, Psychology, and Community Development. The project will culminate in a pilot study, results from which will facilitate the transfer of its technology to additional communities.","doi":"10.24963/ijcai.2024/794","url":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2024/794","pdf":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2024/0794.pdf","markdown":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2024/794.md","bibtex":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2024/bibtex/794","volume":{"slug":"2024","title":"Proceedings of the Thirty-Third International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence","short_title":"IJCAI 2024","url":"https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2024/","year":2024,"location":"Jeju, Korea","dates":"3-9 August 2024","editors":"Kate Larson","isbn":"978-1-956792-04-1","publisher":"International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence Organization","doi_prefix":"10.24963/ijcai.2024"},"section":"AI for Good","track":"AI for Good","number":794,"pages":{"first":7179,"last":7187},"keywords":["Multidisciplinary Topics and Applications: General","Agent-based and Multi-agent Systems: General","AI Ethics, Trust, Fairness: General"],"videos":[],"references":[{"position":1,"raw":"[Alonso-Mora et al., 2017] Javier Alonso-Mora, Samitha Samaranayake, Alex Wallar, Emilio Frazzoli, and Daniela Rus. 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