Adapts model-based advice to stabilize black-box policies for nonlinear control.
problem Stabilizing machine-learned policies for nonlinear control with limited model information.
method Proposes an adaptive λ-confident policy to combine black-box and model-based advice. result Proves the stability of the adaptive λ-confident policy and its competitive ratio. Adapts Hölder smoothness with normalized gradients.
problem Improving smoothness adaptation methods.
method Black-box adaptation of Levy's method using normalized gradients.
result Bound depends on local Hölder smoothness.
Adapts example weights to optimize black-box metrics.
problem Optimizing metrics defined by black-box functions.
method Adaptive example weighting and iterative post-shifting.
result Improves classification performance compared to baselines.
New research shows many recent defenses against adversarial examples are ineffective against black-box attacks.
problem The robustness of recent defenses against adversarial examples is insufficient, especially against black-box attacks.
method Evaluation of nine defenses on two black-box adversarial models and six attacks on CIFAR-10 and Fashion-MNIST datasets.
result Most recent defenses provide only marginal improvements in security (<25%) compared to undefended networks. Method optimizes diffusion model generation to meet user preferences.
problem Optimizing diffusion model generation with only black-box target scores.
method Covariance-adaptive sequential optimization algorithm for black-box optimization.
result Proves superior performance in achieving better target scores.
Adaptive uncertainty quantification improves black-box model predictions in generative AI.
problem Improving uncertainty quantification for black-box models in generative AI.
method Adaptive partitioning and local calibration of conformity scores.
result Local tightening of uncertainty sets with adaptive bands.
Optimizes hard-to-optimize metrics using adaptive surrogates.
problem Training models with black-box and hard-to-optimize metrics.
method Expresses metric as a function of surrogates, solves optimization problem over relaxed surrogate space.
result Approach performs on par with known methods and adds value when metric form is unknown.
SADA safely combines predictions from various models for semi-supervised learning.
problem Combining uncertain quality predictions from multiple models in semi-supervised learning.
method Safe and adaptive aggregation of black-box predictions.
result The method guarantees better performance than using labeled data alone and adapts to perfect predictions.
AdvMind detects adversary intent in black-box attacks with high accuracy.
problem Detecting adversary intent in black-box adversarial attacks is challenging.
method AdvMind accounts for adversary adaptiveness and synthesizes queries to expose intent.
result AdvMind detects adversary intent with over 75% accuracy after observing less than 3 query batches.
Adapts Bayesian optimization for mixed constraints in aircraft design.
problem Optimizing expensive black box functions with mixed constraints.
method Super efficient global optimization with upper trust bound for constraints, Gaussian process uncertainty, refinement procedure.
result Superior performance on aircraft design problem compared to state-of-the-art solvers.
P3BO optimizes biological sequence design by combining multiple methods.
problem Variability in performance of black-box optimization methods for biological sequence design.
method Population-Based Black-Box Optimization (P3BO) that samples sequences from an ensemble of methods, weighting by past performance.
result P3BO outperforms individual methods, proposing higher quality and more diverse sequences.
VOGP efficiently identifies Pareto optimal solutions in black-box vector optimization.
problem Black-box vector optimization with incomplete order relations.
method VOGP is an adaptive elimination algorithm using Gaussian process bandits.
result VOGP achieves theoretical guarantees with sample complexity bounds.
Optimum-statistical collaboration improves black-box optimization efficiency.
problem Improving black-box optimization efficiency through better statistical collaboration.
method Introducing optimum-statistical collaboration framework for hierarchical bandits-based optimization.
result Demonstrated improved regret bounds and better performance in experiments.
Unified framework for MCMC and machine learning problems.
problem Intersection of MCMC and machine learning problems.
method Unified framework integrating various MCMC and machine learning techniques.
result Translation and generalization of theory and methods.
Master algorithm selects best contextual bandit from a collection.
problem Model selection in stochastic contextual bandit setting.
method Random selection with probability adjustment based on comparison of cumulative rewards.
result Achieves the same regret rate as the best candidate in a collection of black-box algorithms.
The adaptive momentum method (AdaMM), which uses past gradients to update descent directions and learning rates simultaneously, has become one of the most popular first-order optimization methods for solving machine learning problems. However, AdaMM is not suited for solving black-box optimization problems, where expli…
Stabilizing black-box algorithms through task-oriented randomization
problem Ensuring stability of black-box models
method Task-oriented randomization
result Established rigorous theoretical foundations and demonstrated effectiveness through simulations and real-world applications
Optimizing expensive black-box systems with limited data is an extremely challenging problem. As a resolution, we present a new surrogate optimization approach by addressing two gaps in prior research -- unimportant input variables and inefficient treatment of uncertainty associated with the black-box output. We first …
We derive an optimal policy for adaptively restarting a randomized algorithm, based on observed features of the run-so-far, so as to minimize the expected time required for the algorithm to successfully terminate. Given a suitable Bayesian prior, this result can be used to select the optimal black-box optimization algo…
Paper tackles hypothesis transfer learning for black-box models.
problem Difficult to build universal machine learning models across different institutions.
method Dynamic Knowledge Distillation (dkdHTL) with instance-wise weighting.
result Empirical results show the effectiveness of dkdHTL.
Novel Bayesian optimization framework improves portfolio management stability and efficiency.
problem Stable and sample-efficient optimization for black-box portfolio models under limited observation budgets.
method TPE-AS framework with adaptive scheduling and importance sampling.
result Demonstrated effectiveness across four backtest settings with three distinct models.
P-BO reduces black-box adversarial attacks by 10x with Bayesian optimization and function prior.
problem Efficiently generating adversarial examples against black-box models.
method Prior-guided Bayesian Optimization (P-BO) with a function prior initialized from a surrogate model.
result Significantly reduces the number of queries needed for adversarial attacks.
Many methods to explain black-box models, whether local or global, are additive. In this paper, we study global additive explanations for non-additive models, focusing on four explanation methods: partial dependence, Shapley explanations adapted to a global setting, distilled additive explanations, and gradient-based e…
HALO uses local Lipschitz constants to optimize functions efficiently.
problem Efficiently solving global optimization problems with complex objective functions.
method Hybrid Adaptive Lipschizian Optimization (HALO) algorithm that estimates local Lipschitz constants and balances global and local information.
result HALO outperforms other global optimization algorithms on numerous test functions.
Adversarial examples pose a threat to deep neural network models in a variety of scenarios, from settings where the adversary has complete knowledge of the model and to the opposite "black box" setting. Black box attacks are particularly threatening as the adversary only needs access to the input and output of the mode…
tDB removes unfairness from black-box models using probability theory.
problem Mitigating unfairness in predictions from black-box models.
method towerDebias (tDB) method based on the Tower Property.
result tDB improves prediction fairness without retraining the original model.
VES-Gamma adapts EI using information-theoretic principles.
problem Optimizing black-box functions using Bayesian optimization.
method Variational Entropy Search (VES) and VES-Gamma algorithm.
result VES-Gamma improves EI by incorporating information-theoretic concepts.
This work explores adaptations of successful multi-armed bandits policies to the online contextual bandits scenario with binary rewards using binary classification algorithms such as logistic regression as black-box oracles. Some of these adaptations are achieved through bootstrapping or approximate bootstrapping, whil…
We introduce several new black-box reductions that significantly improve the design of adaptive and parameter-free online learning algorithms by simplifying analysis, improving regret guarantees, and sometimes even improving runtime. We reduce parameter-free online learning to online exp-concave optimization, we reduce…
Adversarial examples are maliciously tweaked images that can easily fool machine learning techniques, such as neural networks, but they are normally not visually distinguishable for human beings. One of the main approaches to solve this problem is to retrain the networks using those adversarial examples, namely adversa…
Ada-BKB optimizes black-box functions on continuous domains with adaptive discretization.
problem Optimizing functions with continuous domains using Gaussian process optimization.
method Adaptive discretization of the function domain to avoid non-convex optimization costs.
result Ada-BKB algorithm runs in O(T2dexteff2), significantly faster than existing methods. AxNN improves model interpretability without sacrificing predictive power.
problem Black-box nature of machine learning models hinders interpretation and explanation.
method AxNN combines ensembles of generalized additive model networks and additive index models.
result AxNN achieves both good predictive performance and model interpretability.
New algorithm POO optimizes noisy, unknown-smooth functions.
problem Optimizing functions with unknown smoothness and noisy evaluations.
method Adaptive optimization algorithm POO.
result POO performs nearly as well as known algorithms with smoothness knowledge, and works for broader classes of functions.
AST provides a method to validate safe autonomy without unsafe simplifications.
problem Validation of safe autonomy in complex systems.
method Adaptive Stress Testing (AST) approach.
result AST can find failures without unsafe simplifications.
Recent studies have shown that adversarial examples in state-of-the-art image classifiers trained by deep neural networks (DNN) can be easily generated when the target model is transparent to an attacker, known as the white-box setting. However, when attacking a deployed machine learning service, one can only acquire t…
Paper presents a robust transfer learning method for active level set estimation.
problem Efficiently identifying regions of a black-box function with limited function evaluations.
method Incorporates prior knowledge from a related function while locally adapting it.
result The method achieves better convergence of level sets compared to standard transfer learning.
Personalizes pre-trained models for nonparametric regression with limited data.
problem Improving data efficiency in nonparametric regression with few samples.
method Develops a theoretical framework and algorithms for few-shot personalization of black-box models.
result Achieves minimax optimal rate for personalization in nonparametric regression.
We are focusing on bound constrained global optimization problems, whose objective functions are computationally expensive black-box functions and have multiple local minima. The recently popular Metric Stochastic Response Surface (MSRS) algorithm proposed by \cite{Regis2007SRBF} based on adaptive or sequential learnin…
We introduce Kalman Gradient Descent, a stochastic optimization algorithm that uses Kalman filtering to adaptively reduce gradient variance in stochastic gradient descent by filtering the gradient estimates. We present both a theoretical analysis of convergence in a non-convex setting and experimental results which dem…
Simplifies IV regression for high-dimensional instruments.
problem Nonlinear instrumental variable regression with high-dimensional instruments.
method Combines kernelized IV methods with an adaptive regression algorithm.
result Faster convergence and adaptability to feature dimensionality.
Motivated by the problem of tuning hyperparameters in machine learning, we present a new approach for gradually and adaptively optimizing an unknown function using estimated gradients. We validate the empirical performance of the proposed idea on both low and high dimensional problems. The experimental results demonstr…
The paper improves prediction intervals for non-parametric regression using histograms.
problem Computing accurate prediction intervals for non-parametric regression models.
method Uses conditional histograms to estimate conditional distributions and compute shortest prediction intervals.
result The method provides prediction intervals with provable marginal coverage and asymptotic conditional coverage.
New framework converts offline to online estimation using black-box offline estimators.
problem Convert offline estimation algorithms to online estimation algorithms.
method Oracle-Efficient Online Estimation (OEOE) framework.
result Achieves near-optimal online estimation error via black-box offline estimators.
GACEM optimizes complex multi-modal problems using neural networks.
problem Black-box optimization and constraint satisfaction in multi-modal environments.
method Modified Cross-Entropy Method with masked auto-regressive neural network.
result GACEM outperforms traditional CEM in diverse solutions, mode discovery, and sample efficiency.
Proposes a tabular transformer model to maintain feature effect intelligibility.
problem Losing marginal feature effects in deep tabular transformer networks.
method Adapts tabular transformer networks to identify marginal feature effects.
result The model accurately identifies marginal feature effects, matching black-box performance while maintaining intelligibility.
Paper introduces Native Guide for generating time series counterfactual explanations.
problem Lack of explainability for time series data in AI systems.
method Model-agnostic, instance-based counterfactual generation for time series classification.
result Native Guide produces better counterfactual explanations than benchmarks.
Improves reliability of BBVI optimization methods.
problem Reliability issues and expertise required for BBVI optimization.
method RABVI framework with automated learning rate adjustment and KL divergence estimation.
result RABVI detects inaccurate variational approximations and optimizes reliability.
Adaptive algorithm for multi-objective optimization with binary constraints.
problem Optimization of black-box problems with binary constraints.
method Bayesian optimization using regression and classification models.
result Significantly faster expected hypervolume calculation.