New framework evaluates model explanations based on decision task improvement.
problem Evaluation of model explanations often misses practical value.
method Decision-theoretic framework quantifying three key values.
result Provides benchmarks and interprets human-AI decision support.
New algorithm reduces regret in private online learning with optimal gap-dependent rate.
problem Optimal gap-dependent regret rate for private stochastic decision-theoretic online learning.
method Horizon-free pure-DP algorithm with exponential block partitioning and softmax selection.
result Explicit regret bound of 1000⋅(ΔminlogK+εlogK). New decision-theoretic characterization separates belief and decision posteriors.
problem Understanding the conditions under which loss-based updating coincides with Bayesian updating.
method Decision-theoretic approach to distinguish belief and decision posteriors.
result Generalized Bayes coincides with ordinary Bayesian updating only if the loss is proportional to negative log-likelihood.
The paper provides a statistical decision-theoretical derivation of the Two-Stage approach for parameter estimation.
problem Theoretical justification for the Two-Stage approach in situations where likelihood is difficult to evaluate.
method Statistical decision-theoretical derivation leading to Bayesian and Minimax estimators.
result The Two-Stage approach is justified theoretically and applied to independent and identically distributed samples.
We provide a general theoretical analysis of expected out-of-sample utility, also referred to as decision-theoretic classification, for non-decomposable binary classification metrics such as F-measure and Jaccard coefficient. Our key result is that the expected out-of-sample utility for many performance metrics is prov…
Transformers can learn optimal regression mixtures efficiently.
problem Limited adoption of tailored regression methods due to their model-specific nature.
method Constructed a generative process for a mixture of linear regressions and used transformers to learn optimal predictors.
result Transformers achieve low mean-squared error and make predictions close to the optimal procedure.
qEUBO optimizes decision-making with noisy feedback.
problem Optimizing decision-making with noisy preference feedback.
method Introduces qEUBO as a novel acquisition function for preferential Bayesian optimization.
result qEUBO is one-step Bayes optimal and enjoys an approximation guarantee under noise.
A model for collaborative learning with principal-agent interaction.
problem Optimizing parameter estimates in a collaborative learning setting.
method Decision-theoretic model with aggregation coefficients and Langevin dynamics.
result Advantages in stability and generalization due to cooperative behavior.
This paper generalizes BO uncertainty measures using decision-theoretic entropies.
problem Efficiently inferring optima of expensive black-box functions.
method Introduces a generalized entropy measure from statistical decision theory to optimize Bayesian optimization.
result Demonstrates strong empirical performance across various sequential decision-making tasks.
Paper proposes decision-theoretic approach to combat wildfires.
problem Complexity and uncertainty in wildfire management.
method Partially-observable Markov decision process and data-driven model.
result Forecasting model accurately models wildfire spread.
New decision-theoretic calibration error metric improves prediction reliability.
problem Improving the reliability of predictions for decision-making.
method Proposed Calibration Decision Loss (CDL) and an efficient algorithm to achieve near-optimal CDL.
result Near-optimal CDL guarantees vanishing payoff loss from miscalibration.
The paper critiques existing uncertainty concepts and proposes a new decision-theoretic approach.
problem Incoherence in existing discussions of aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty.
method Decision-theoretic perspective that relates uncertainty, predictive performance, and statistical dispersion.
result Popular information-theoretic quantities can be poor estimators but still useful for guiding data acquisition.
We introduce a new loss function for evaluating forecasts and estimate models using it.
problem Lack of a decision-theoretic foundation for evaluating forecasts using the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency.
method We introduce and analyze the Nash-Sutcliffe loss function and its application in estimating models.
result Nash-Sutcliffe loss provides a decision-theoretic foundation for evaluating and estimating models.
A decision-theoretic bootstrapping method for robust uncertainty quantification.
problem Uncertainty in finite data sets and distributional shift between training and testing data.
method Partition data, train models, sample UQ subsets, define adversarial game, identify optimal mixed strategies.
result Optimal model mixtures and UQ estimates for robust uncertainty quantification.
The paper tackles reward-relevance in offline RL with sparse decision dynamics.
problem Offline reinforcement learning with sparse decision dynamics and estimation sparsity.
method Reward-filtered least-squares policy evaluation using thresholded lasso.
result The method provides theoretical guarantees with sample complexity dependent on sparse component size.
Test-time training adapts a pretrained model to each prompt via parameter updates, improving accuracy under pretraining-to-test distribution shifts.
problem Improving accuracy of pretrained models under distribution shifts.
method Explaining TTT behavior through a decision-theoretic lens.
result TTT reduces prediction error when updates are spectrally matched to the prompt's signal-to-noise ratio and aligned with query-relevant eigen-directions.
Quantum computing speeds up asset pricing models exponentially.
problem Solving dynamic nonlinear asset pricing models efficiently.
method Utilizes quantum superposition and entanglement to solve models exponentially faster than classical methods.
result Exponential computational speed-up for solving asset pricing models.
New truthful calibration errors improve model ranking in multiclass prediction.
problem Non-truthful calibration errors can mislead model comparisons.
method Introduced perfectly truthful calibration errors for multiclass predictions.
result Truthful calibration errors preserve decision-theoretic dominance and stabilize model rankings.
Run2Survive uses survival analysis for algorithm selection, outperforming traditional methods.
problem Handling censored runtime data in algorithm selection.
method Decision-theoretic approach leveraging survival analysis for censored data.
result Run2Survive outperforms state-of-the-art AS approaches in experiments.
The study analyzes when Bayesian averaging over decision trees is reliable.
problem When do Bayesian model averaging weights over decision trees provide reliable information?
method Closed-form solution for Bayesian decision trees with Catalan-exponential priors.
result Established a complete non-asymptotic theory of rational commitment thresholds.
We review two strands of conceptual approaches to the formal representation of a decision maker's non-knowledge at the initial stage of a static one-person, one-shot decision problem in economic theory. One focuses on representations of non-knowledge in terms of probability measures over sets of mutually exclusive and …
The paper addresses decision making with partially calibrated forecasts, offering a robust approach.
problem Developing a decision-making strategy for forecasts that are only partially calibrated.
method A minimax approach to mapping predictions to actions, considering worst-case distributions.
result The minimax optimal decision rule is to trust predictions and act accordingly, even for partially calibrated forecasts.
A new framework for robust transfer learning that avoids negative transfer in domains with unequal information.
problem Negative transfer in unsupervised domain adaptation, especially when source and target domains have different levels of informativeness.
method Decision-theoretic framework based on Le Cam's theory of statistical experiments, using constructive approximations to replace strict invariance with directional simulability.
result Le Cam Distortion achieves near-perfect frequency estimation and zero source utility loss in various domains, demonstrating superior performance compared to traditional methods.
We revisit the classical decision-theoretic problem of weighted expert voting from a statistical learning perspective. In particular, we examine the consistency (both asymptotic and finitary) of the optimal Nitzan-Paroush weighted majority and related rules. In the case of known expert competence levels, we give sharp …
Bayesian reinforcement learning (BRL) offers a decision-theoretic solution for reinforcement learning. While "model-based" BRL algorithms have focused either on maintaining a posterior distribution on models or value functions and combining this with approximate dynamic programming or tree search, previous Bayesian "mo…
Identifying patients who will be discharged within 24 hours can improve hospital resource management and quality of care. We studied this problem using eight years of Electronic Health Records (EHR) data from Stanford Hospital. We fit models to predict 24 hour discharge across the entire inpatient population. The best …
New framework tackles DG under posterior drift, where optimal classifier varies by domain.
problem Generalizing from multiple domains with varying optimal classifiers.
method Decision-theoretic framework for DG under posterior drift.
result Optimal classifier can vary significantly across domains, challenging existing DG approaches.
Develops optimal uncertainty quantification for risk-averse decision makers.
problem Quantifying prediction uncertainty for risk-sensitive domains.
method Decision-theoretic foundations connecting uncertainty quantification with risk-averse decision-making.
result Risk-Averse Calibration (RAC) algorithm provides optimal prediction sets for risk-averse decision makers.
This paper explores minimax-Bayes solutions for reinforcement learning problems.
problem How to select appropriate priors for decision making under uncertainty in sequential decision making.
method Study of minimax-Bayes solutions for various reinforcement learning problems.
result Minimax policies are more robust than standard priors.
Most methods for decision-theoretic online learning are based on the Hedge algorithm, which takes a parameter called the learning rate. In most previous analyses the learning rate was carefully tuned to obtain optimal worst-case performance, leading to suboptimal performance on easy instances, for example when there ex…
This paper attempts to provide a decision-theoretic foundation for the measurement of economic tail risk, which is not only closely related to utility theory but also relevant to statistical model uncertainty. The main result is that the only risk measures that satisfy a set of economic axioms for the Choquet expected …
New algorithm optimizes matrix reordering for noisy disordered matrices.
problem Optimizing matrix reordering for noisy disordered matrices in single-cell biology and metagenomics.
method Proposed a polynomial-time adaptive sorting algorithm to improve upon spectral seriation.
result Our algorithm achieves superior performance compared to existing methods in real datasets.
We discuss the finite sample theoretical properties of online predictions in non-stationary time series under model misspecification. To analyze the theoretical predictive properties of statistical methods under this setting, we first define the Kullback-Leibler risk, in order to place the problem within a decision the…
Modeling the purposeful behavior of imperfect agents from a small number of observations is a challenging task. When restricted to the single-agent decision-theoretic setting, inverse optimal control techniques assume that observed behavior is an approximately optimal solution to an unknown decision problem. These tech…
Paper characterizes star-shaped risk measures and their properties.
problem Characterizing risk measures in the presence of liquidity risk and competitive delegation.
method Characterization of star-shaped risk measures, study of their properties.
result Star-shaped risk measures include all practically used risk measures.
Information theoretic active learning has been widely studied for probabilistic models. For simple regression an optimal myopic policy is easily tractable. However, for other tasks and with more complex models, such as classification with nonparametric models, the optimal solution is harder to compute. Current approach…
Optimizes active learning for machine learning models with Bayesian approach.
problem Efficiently allocate labeling resources to train machine learning models.
method Directly optimizes misclassification error using a Bayesian approach with conjugate prior.
result Superior performance compared to state-of-the-art selection strategies.
This paper is about two related decision theoretic problems, nonparametric two-sample testing and independence testing. There is a belief that two recently proposed solutions, based on kernels and distances between pairs of points, behave well in high-dimensional settings. We identify different sources of misconception…
A new calibration metric bridges testability and actionability.
problem Combining testability and actionable insights for forecast probabilities.
method Cutoff Calibration Error (CCE) that assesses calibration over intervals of forecasted probabilities.
result Cutoff Calibration Error is both testable and actionable.
The expected improvement (EI) algorithm is a popular strategy for information collection in optimization under uncertainty. The algorithm is widely known to be too greedy, but nevertheless enjoys wide use due to its simplicity and ability to handle uncertainty and noise in a coherent decision theoretic framework. To pr…
Hierarchical clustering has been shown to be valuable in many scenarios. Despite its usefulness to many situations, there is no agreed methodology on how to properly evaluate the hierarchies produced from different techniques, particularly in the case where ground-truth labels are unavailable. This motivates us to prop…
We study a variant of decision-theoretic online learning in which the set of experts that are available to Learner can shrink over time. This is a restricted version of the well-studied sleeping experts problem, itself a generalization of the fundamental game of prediction with expert advice. Similar to many works in t…
A method for eliciting expert beliefs using preferential questions and normalizing flows.
problem Eliciting high-dimensional probability distributions from noisy judgments.
method Normalizing flows based on preferential questions with a novel functional prior.
result The method allows for the inference of arbitrarily flexible densities from preferential judgments.
Optimizes portfolio construction using Bayesian methods and variational techniques.
problem Balancing reward and risk in portfolio construction.
method Bayesian decision-theoretic formulation, saddle-point problem, variational Bayes relaxation, efficient algorithm, provable convergence.
result Proves statistical consistency of proposed decision with optimal Bayesian decision.
The paper defines and characterizes conditional nonlinear expectations.
problem Defining and characterizing conditional nonlinear expectations.
method Embedding in decision theory, using state-dependent preferences, and continuous utility representation.
result Consistent backward conditional projections are characterized by the Sure-Thing Principle.
Optimizes data acquisition in high-dimensional Bayesian optimization.
problem Suboptimal data acquisition in high-dimensional Bayesian optimization tasks.
method Utility-calibrated variational inference to align approximations with BO goals.
result Optimal data acquisition decisions under a limited computational budget.
We study distributed estimation of a Gaussian mean under communication constraints in a decision theoretical framework. Minimax rates of convergence, which characterize the tradeoff between the communication costs and statistical accuracy, are established in both the univariate and multivariate settings. Communication-…
The paper optimizes A/B tests by balancing lift and cost in large-scale settings.
problem Balancing lift and cost in A/B tests for large-scale experimentation.
method Empirical Bayes approach using a greedy knapsack algorithm to rank experiments based on lift-to-cost ratio, incorporating local false discovery rate (lfdr).
result The proposed method maximizes expected profit while controlling false discovery rate, demonstrating superior performance in large-scale settings.