An Active Learning Method for the Comparison of Agent-based Models

Swapna Thorve, Zhihao Hu, Kiran Lakkaraju, Joshua Letchford, Anil Vullikanti, Achla Marathe, Samarth Swarup

Abstract: We develop a methodology for comparing two or more agent-based models that are developed for the same domain, but may differ in the particular data sets (e.g., geographical regions) to which they are applied, and in the structure of the model. Our approach is to learn a response surface in the common parameter space of the models and compare the regions corresponding to qualitatively different behaviors in the models. As an example, we develop an active learning algorithm to learn phase transition boundaries in contagion processes in order to compare two agent-based models of rooftop solar panel adoption.