Proximal Policy Optimization in Action: Real-Time Pricing with Trust-Region Learning
Last Updated on August 29, 2025 by Editorial Team
Author(s): Shenggang Li
Originally published on Towards AI.
A Practical Guide to ActorβCritic Methods for Dynamic, Data-Driven Decisions
Every time a customer opens an app or website, the platform must set a surcharge in milliseconds to balance rider supply, demand spikes, and weather. Simple if-then rules canβt adapt fast enough, while naive trial-and-error risks wasted revenue or angry customers.
This article explores Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) in the context of real-time pricing policies for dynamic decision making, emphasizing its efficiency and adaptability compared to traditional methods. The author presents a practical overview of PPO, including its core mechanisms and broader applications in business scenarios like delivery surcharges. Through experimental evaluations against standard Actor-Critic methods, the article demonstrates how PPO consistently achieves balanced pricing decisions, enhancing profitability while minimizing customer dissatisfaction in volatile environments.
Read the full blog for free on Medium.
Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming aΒ sponsor.
Published via Towards AI