Using game theory mathematics to resolve conservation conflicts and social dynamics
Source: https://phys.org/news/2022-09-game-theory-mathematics-human-conflicts.html
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/679651
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/732942
People need to face so many choices every day, individually or as a group. Our decisions matter and will influence how others decide, thus comes the game theory. Game theory aims to predict outcomes and solutions to an issue in which parties with conflicting, overlapping or mixed interests interact. Though this concept has been around since the 1940s, it’s different now because scientists start to apply the theory with computer-based algorithms and big data. Game theory has the potential to solve more problems for our society.
One such problem is conservation conflicts. If we have land or natural resources, should we produce more food or protect the biodiversity in the area? The team, led by Prof Bunnefeld, conducted seven case studies and worked with more than 900 people across the world. They realized that they need to build more complex games than pure game theory, as many participants were unhappy when facing the conflicts directly. They then developed a modeling framework that can predict wildlife management outcomes amid conflict and even created a mobile phone game called Crops vs Creatures. In this way, more people can get engaged and involved and realized we can solve the problems if we trust each other and get adequate payments for conservation efforts.
Another project aims to utilize game theory to analyze social dynamics and help with early detection of emerging social conflicts. By working with data, the researchers found that polarized groups online formed mainly because people build their identity by gaining approval from their peers. From game theory, we know that people select the actions that maximize their expected utility, so the team can try to predict how people will change if we regulate social media. Such modeling can help us to better understand democracy and debates in the public sphere.
Still, there are challenges when applying game theory to reality, such as cultural difference, climate change, and local context. Prof Bunnefeld said it’s hard for us to solve all the conflicts, but we can manage them. Then, game theory is a good starting point for exploring new models, games, and apps for conflicts.
This article is related to our course materials as it talks about how to use game theory and combine it with modern technologies to solve real-life human conflicts like conservation or social dynamics. In class, we only use game theory for abstract simple problems. When it comes to applying it to reality, we might need models much more complex than game theory as more unpredictable factors are added. However, as an entry point, game theory is still needed for many situations and can be very helpful for both simple or complex conflicts. This news gave me more new insights about what game theory can do today.