Generative models use latent abstractions to create images.
problem Understanding how generative models create high-dimensional data like images.
method Developed a theoretical framework using SDE and information theory.
result Diffusion models can be seen as a non-linear filter driven by latent abstractions.
Algorithm finds latent structure in value functions for improved reinforcement learning.
problem Finding latent structure in value functions for efficient reinforcement learning.
method Proposes a practical algorithm using two posterior distributions over state abstractions and abstract-state values.
result Substantial performance gains in multi-task settings where tasks share a common, low-dimensional representation.
HOMER learns latent states to explore rich environments efficiently.
problem Exploration in rich observation environments with unknown latent states.
method Interleaves representation learning and strategic exploration to identify kinematic states.
result Provably efficient exploration with polynomial sample complexity in latent states and time horizon.
Proposes method to learn state abstractions that generalize across environments.
problem Learning abstractions that generalize in block MDPs.
method Invariant causal prediction to learn model-irrelevant state abstractions (MISA).
result Proves high probability of outputting a state abstraction corresponding to causal feature set for return.
A method uses RL to learn abstractions for planning, improving robot navigation and manipulation tasks.
problem Planning requires suitable abstractions for states and transitions, which RL struggles with for temporally extended tasks.
method Goal-conditioned policies learned with RL are incorporated into planning, with a latent variable model representing valid states.
result Our method significantly outperforms prior work on image-based robot navigation and manipulation tasks.
New framework identifies causal models with arbitrary interventions, improving realism.
problem Identify causal models with realistic interventions.
method Theoretical framework for identifying causal models with arbitrary interventions.
result Identify causal models with arbitrary interventions, up to a higher-level abstraction.
We present an encoder-powered generative adversarial network (EncGAN) that is able to learn both the multi-manifold structure and the abstract features of data. Unlike the conventional decoder-based GANs, EncGAN uses an encoder to model the manifold structure and invert the encoder to generate data. This unique scheme …
TASID learns policies in high-dimensional settings with abstract simulator knowledge.
problem RL in high-dimensional settings with limited observation knowledge.
method TASID algorithm for transfer RL from abstract simulator with bounded perturbations.
result Sample complexity polynomial in horizon, independent of number of states.
Math theory explains how neural networks learn abstract representations.
problem Understanding how neural networks learn abstract representations.
method Mathematical theory reformulating network optimization into mean field optimization over neural preactivations.
result Abstract representations of latent variables are guaranteed to appear in neural networks trained on tasks that depend on these variables.
This study analyzes data science vocabulary changes over 13 years.
problem Understanding evolution of data science terms over time.
method Exploratory Data Analysis, Latent Semantic Analysis, Latent Dirichlet Analysis, N-grams Analysis.
result Identified new vocabulary and its incorporation into scientific literature.
Develops SCMs for latent selection to simplify causal analysis.
problem Latent selection complicates causal analysis.
method Introduces a conditioning operation for SCMs to encode latent selection.
result Conditioning operation preserves simplicity, acyclicity, and linearity of SCMs.
Steady progress has been made in abstractive summarization with attention-based sequence-to-sequence learning models. In this paper, we propose a new decoder where the output summary is generated by conditioning on both the input text and the latent topics of the document. The latent topics, identified by a topic model…
In this work we explore the generalization characteristics of unsupervised representation learning by leveraging disentangled VAE's to learn a useful latent space on a set of relational reasoning problems derived from Raven Progressive Matrices. We show that the latent representations, learned by unsupervised training …
In the quest for efficient and robust reinforcement learning methods, both model-free and model-based approaches offer advantages. In this paper we propose a new way of explicitly bridging both approaches via a shared low-dimensional learned encoding of the environment, meant to capture summarizing abstractions. We sho…
In this paper, we implement an information-theoretic approach to travel behaviour analysis by introducing a generative modelling framework to identify informative latent characteristics in travel decision making. It involves developing a joint tri-partite Bayesian graphical network model using a Restricted Boltzmann Ma…
Latent-state environments with long horizons, such as those faced by recommender systems, pose significant challenges for reinforcement learning (RL). In this work, we identify and analyze several key hurdles for RL in such environments, including belief state error and small action advantage. We develop a general prin…
Latent features learned by deep learning approaches have proven to be a powerful tool for machine learning. They serve as a data abstraction that makes learning easier by capturing regularities in data explicitly. Their benefits motivated their adaptation to relational learning context. In our previous work, we introdu…
A new estimator reduces variance in slate bandit OPE.
problem Large action spaces in slate bandits cause high variance in OPE.
method Develops Latent IPS (LIPS) to optimize slate abstractions for low variance and bias.
result LIPS substantially outperforms existing estimators in scenarios with non-linear rewards and large slate spaces.
We introduce a variational approach to learning and inference of temporally hierarchical structure and representation for sequential data. We propose the Variational Temporal Abstraction (VTA), a hierarchical recurrent state space model that can infer the latent temporal structure and thus perform the stochastic state …
We propose a recurrent extension of the Ladder networks whose structure is motivated by the inference required in hierarchical latent variable models. We demonstrate that the recurrent Ladder is able to handle a wide variety of complex learning tasks that benefit from iterative inference and temporal modeling. The arch…
Paper develops a framework to identify latent dynamics from high-dimensional data.
problem Identifying latent dynamics from high-dimensional time-series data.
method Combines physics inductive bias and learn-to-identify strategy.
result Meta-HyLaD framework effectively identifies hybrid latent dynamics.
This work extends HiP-MDPs to robust state abstractions for multi-task and meta-reinforcement learning.
problem Limited observability of state in HiP-MDPs for real-world scenarios with rich observation spaces.
method Inspired by Block MDPs, the work extends HiP-MDPs to enable robust state abstractions for multi-task and meta-reinforcement learning.
result Transfer and generalization bounds based on task and state similarity, and sample complexity bounds that depend on the aggregate number of samples across tasks.
We present LumièreNet, a simple, modular, and completely deep-learning based architecture that synthesizes, high quality, full-pose headshot lecture videos from instructor's new audio narration of any length. Unlike prior works, LumièreNet is entirely composed of trainable neural network modules to learn mapping functi…
New hierarchical VQ-VAE scheme improves image compression quality and features at low bitrates.
problem Low bitrate image compression maintaining quality and features.
method Hierarchical VQ-VAE with stochastic quantization and Markovian latent variables.
result High perceptual quality and semantic features at low bitrates.
Optimus pre-trains sentences in a latent space for various NLP tasks.
problem Training large-scale language models for diverse NLP tasks.
method Pre-trained Variational Autoencoder (VAE) on large text corpus, fine-tuned for various tasks.
result Optimus achieves state-of-the-art on VAE language modeling benchmarks.
Formalizes concepts as latent variables in hierarchical models for high-dimensional data.
problem Lack of formalization and theoretical insights for learning discrete concepts from high-dimensional data.
method Formalizes concepts as latent causal variables in a hierarchical model, formulates conditions for concept identification.
result Conditions for identifying latent hierarchical models in unsupervised data, handling complex structures and high-dimensional data.
CompVAE handles multi-ensemble data with compositional generative model.
problem Handling multi-ensemble data with control and generative models.
method Derived from Bayesian variational principles, CompVAE learns a latent representation leveraging observational and symbolic information.
result Supports compositional generative model enabling multi-ensemble operations.
Mid-training improves RL by identifying compact action abstractions.
problem Unlocking full potential of RL with large language models.
method RA3 algorithm that optimizes sequential variational lower bound and discovers latent structures via RL.
result Improves performance by 8 points on HumanEval and 4 points on MBPP.
Paper learns meaningful state and action representations from MDP trajectories.
problem Learning good state and action representations from MDP trajectories.
method Tensor decomposition, kernelization, importance sampling, low-Tucker-rank approximation.
result The learned state/action abstractions provide accurate approximations to latent block structures.
This work uses action equivariance to learn structured latent spaces for reinforcement learning.
problem Learning structured latent spaces for reinforcement learning.
method Introduced a contrastive loss function to enforce action equivariance on learned representations.
result Optimal policies in the abstract MDP can be successfully lifted to the original MDP.
A new method measures heterogeneity without needing categorical partitioning or distance measurement.
problem Measuring heterogeneity in non-categorical data requires categorical partitioning and distance measurement, limiting applicability.
method Representational Rényi heterogeneity (RRH) transforms data into a latent space where heterogeneity can be measured without these requirements.
result RRH can generalize existing indices and better responds to changes in mixture component separation and weighting.
A new method for math reasoning that allows for iterative correction.
problem Standard reasoning models commit to each token and cannot recover from early errors.
method Generative framework with latent thought vectors for iterative self-correction.
result 30 rethinking iterations surpass baselines with 15 times more parameters.
SuTaT creates dialogue summaries for tete-a-tetes without labeled data.
problem Lack of high-quality paired dialogue-summary data.
method Unsupervised model for tete-a-tetes, modeling customer and agent roles separately.
result SuTaT outperforms on automatic and human evaluations.
OP3 models entities for better task generalization in reinforcement learning.
problem Generalizing to unseen physical tasks with combinatorial complexity.
method Object-centric perception, prediction, and planning (OP3) framework.
result OP3 outperforms oracle models and state-of-the-art video prediction models.
Deep neural networks with discrete latent variables offer the promise of better symbolic reasoning, and learning abstractions that are more useful to new tasks. There has been a surge in interest in discrete latent variable models, however, despite several recent improvements, the training of discrete latent variable m…
Learning attribute applicability of products in the Amazon catalog (e.g., predicting that a shoe should have a value for size, but not for battery-type at scale is a challenge. The need for an interpretable model is contingent on (1) the lack of ground truth training data, (2) the need to utilise prior information abou…
This work explains how linear representations in large language models arise from training objectives and gradient descent.
problem Understanding the origins of linear representations in large language models.
method A latent variable model to abstract and formalize concept dynamics, combined with analysis of the softmax cross-entropy objective and gradient descent.
result Linear representations emerge when learning from data matching the latent variable model, and this simple structure suffices to yield linear representations.
New findings show disentangled latent representations are not enough for robust compositional generalization.
problem Deep learning models struggle with compositional generalization, especially in out-of-distribution samples.
method Investigated a 2D Gaussian generation task with fully disentangled inputs, then forced disentangled latent representations into full-dimensional output space.
result Forcing disentangled latent representations into full-dimensional output space enables robust compositional generalization.
We propose a new approach to inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) based on the deep Gaussian process (deep GP) model, which is capable of learning complicated reward structures with few demonstrations. Our model stacks multiple latent GP layers to learn abstract representations of the state feature space, which is link…
VQShape learns interpretable time-series representations and achieves comparable performance to specialist models.
problem Lack of interpretability in existing time-series models.
method Vector quantization of time-series data into abstracted shapes.
result VQShape achieves comparable performance to specialist models in classification tasks.
Interprets how intrinsic motivation shapes behavior in RL agents.
problem Understanding how intrinsic motivation influences behavior in reinforcement learning agents.
method Analyzed five RL agents in procedurally generated environments using various interpretability techniques.
result Curiosity-driven agents exhibit broader and more dynamic attention than extrinsically motivated agents.
SG-NTF completes HDI tensors with spectral mapping and spatio-temporal gating.
problem High-dimensional and incomplete tensor completion.
method Spectra-Guided Neural Tucker Factorization (SG-NTF) with Spatio-Temporal Co-Gating (STCG).
result Maintains competitive completion accuracy with parameter efficiency.
This work discovers latent field effects governing interacting dynamical systems.
problem Discovering field effects governing interacting dynamical systems.
method Proposes neural fields to learn latent force fields from observed dynamics, disentangling local object interactions and global field effects.
result Accurately discovers latent field effects in various dynamical systems.
A network supporting deep unsupervised learning is presented. The network is an autoencoder with lateral shortcut connections from the encoder to decoder at each level of the hierarchy. The lateral shortcut connections allow the higher levels of the hierarchy to focus on abstract invariant features. While standard auto…
Proves efficient learning of hierarchical structure in meta-reinforcement learning.
problem Lack of provable guarantees for learning hierarchical structures in reinforcement learning.
method Analyzed HRL in meta-RL setting with tabular transition dynamics, providing diversity conditions and regret bounds.
result Sample-efficient recovery of natural hierarchical structure with provable guarantees.
This paper introduces the probabilistic module interface, which allows encapsulation of complex probabilistic models with latent variables alongside custom stochastic approximate inference machinery, and provides a platform-agnostic abstraction barrier separating the model internals from the host probabilistic inferenc…
We introduce a method to learn a hierarchy of successively more abstract representations of complex data based on optimizing an information-theoretic objective. Intuitively, the optimization searches for a set of latent factors that best explain the correlations in the data as measured by multivariate mutual informatio…
Analogy-making is a key method for computer algorithms to generate both natural and creative music pieces. In general, an analogy is made by partially transferring the music abstractions, i.e., high-level representations and their relationships, from one piece to another; however, this procedure requires disentangling …