Dr Enrico Gerding is working towards developing auction-based approaches for controlling complex systems. The applications range from having computerised agents bidding on eBay to having them within mobile devices where they are capable of making all our arrangements.
'The agent would know where you are and would be able to plan your schedule and negotiate on your behalf,' he said.
As a young boy growing up in the east of Holland, Enrico took an interest in computing and was able to programme his ZX Spectrum computer at the age of eight.
Despite his aptitude for the discipline, when he came to make a career decision, Enrico did not feel inclined to study computer science. Around that time, he saw a new course in artificial intelligence which attracted his attention so he went on to study a degree in that at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and graduated with honours in 1999.
During his degreee, he became very interested in the whole question of how computers could be made more intelligent and how lessons from nature, evolution and biology could be applied to computer science.
In November 1999, he went on to do a PhD in automated negotiation at the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (centre for mathematics and computer science) in Amsterdam. His main area of interest was in automation of services and he saw negotiation as just one way of getting automated entities to co-operate together.
'I also realised that lessons could be learned from game theory in economics and this suited my interest in combining different fields,' he said.
After completing his PhD, Enrico decided that he wanted to travel and considered Italy or Australia. As it happened, Professor Nick Jennings, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton's School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) was an external examiner for his PhD and offered him a position at ECS.
'I didn't know much about ECS at the time but I knew some of the people who worked closely with Nick and I was aware of the high quality of the work carried out there,' he said.
Enrico joined ECS in March 2005 and has since been working on developing computerised agents capable of bidding in automated auctions such as eBay.
'We are working towards developing bidding strategies whereby an optimal agreement, or if you like, a "win win" situation can be reached for both parties,' he said.
Enrico and his team recently found a way to use automated bidding strategies to bid optimally in auctions where there are several items for sale simultaneously.
'We have found a way to bid optimally in each one,' he said.
They have also proposed an effective and simple way to combat "shill-bidding", a disruptive but increasingly prevalent practice which threatens the integrity of online auctions.
So how far away are we from having a "butler" in our 'phones?
'I am certainly very keen to make these mobile devices widely available,' said Enrico. 'We are currently working on the techniques to make this happen. Now we just need to develop the agents further so that they can communicate with one another.'
