Large-scale policy evaluation in multi-agent systems

A computer-implemented method for identifying an optimal combination of operational policies for implementation by a plurality of actors, each actor being capable of adopting any of a plurality of operational policies, the method comprising iteratively performing steps comprising:

• (i) selecting a first combination of operational policies, the first combination of operational policies defining a policy for each actor of the plurality of actors;
• (ii) receiving vectors of values, each representing a benefit of a respective second combination where all but one actor of the plurality of actors adopts a policy defined for it in the first combination of operational policies and that actor adopts a different policy;
• and
• (iii) estimating a ranking of combinations of policies for the plurality of actors in dependence on the vectors of values and a previously estimated ranking of combinations of policies for the plurality of actors.

A non-transient computer readable medium storing instructions for identifying an optimal combination of operational policies for implementation by a plurality of actors, each actor being capable of adopting any of a plurality of operational policies, the instructions, when executed by a computer, configure the computer to iteratively perform steps comprising:

• (i) selecting a first combination of operational policies, the first combination of operational policies defining a policy for each actor of the plurality of actors;
• (ii) receiving vectors of values, each representing a benefit of a respective second combination where all but one of the actorsactor of the plurality of actors adopts the a policy defined for it in the first combination of operational policies and that actor adopts a different policy;
• and
• (iii) estimating a ranking of combinations of policies for the plurality of actors in dependence on those vectors of values and a previously estimated ranking of combinations of policies for the plurality of actors.