The recent advances in computer-assisted learning systems and the availability of open educational resources today promise a pathway to providing cost-efficient, high-quality education to large masses of learners. One of the most ambitious use cases of computer-assisted learning is to build a lifelong learning recommen…
We study the relationship between the notions of differentially private learning and online learning in games. Several recent works have shown that differentially private learning implies online learning, but an open problem of Neel, Roth, and Wu \cite{NeelAaronRoth2018} asks whether this implication is {\it efficient}…
TrueLearn Python library for personalized educational recommendations.
problem Building educational recommendation systems with humanly-intuitive user representations.
method Online learning Bayesian models and open learner concept.
result Library includes models and representations for user control and interpretability.
We give an algorithmically efficient version of the learner-to-compression scheme conversion in Moran and Yehudayoff (2016). In extending this technique to real-valued hypotheses, we also obtain an efficient regression-to-bounded sample compression converter. To our knowledge, this is the first general compressed regre…
New minimax optimal learner for robust predictors against adversarial examples.
problem Learning robust predictors against adversarial examples.
method Global perspective and new algorithmic ideas.
result Characterizes classes of predictors that are robustly learnable.
The significance of the study of the theoretical and practical properties of AdaBoost is unquestionable, given its simplicity, wide practical use, and effectiveness on real-world datasets. Here we present a few open problems regarding the behavior of "Optimal AdaBoost," a term coined by Rudin, Daubechies, and Schapire …
New learner achieves optimal agnostic error in small error regime.
problem Optimizing agnostic learning in the small error regime.
method Careful aggregations of ERM classifiers.
result Achieves error $c \cdot τ+ O \left(\sqrt{\frac{τ(d + \log(1 / δ))}{m}} + \frac{d + \log(1 / δ)}{m}
ight)$, matching lower bound when τ≈d/m. New approach to robustly reliable learners against instance-targeted attacks.
problem Addressing data poisoning attacks on robustly reliable learners.
method Defining regularized robustly reliable learners and efficient algorithms.
result Efficient algorithms for robustly reliable learners with sublinear runtime.
While computer and communication technologies have provided effective means to scale up many aspects of education, the submission and grading of assessments such as homework assignments and tests remains a weak link. In this paper, we study the problem of automatically grading the kinds of open response mathematical qu…
Plotting a learner's average performance against the number of training samples results in a learning curve. Studying such curves on one or more data sets is a way to get to a better understanding of the generalization properties of this learner. The behavior of learning curves is, however, not very well understood and…
EP-learning framework improves causal contrast estimation efficiency.
problem Estimating heterogeneous causal contrasts efficiently and stably.
method EP-learning framework combining T-learning and DR-learning.
result EP-learners are oracle-efficient and outperform competitors.
The study explores whether model selection guarantees apply to contextual bandits.
problem Applying model selection guarantees to contextual bandits.
method Investigates whether similar guarantees for model selection in statistical learning can be extended to contextual bandit learning.
result Initial findings suggest that model selection guarantees may not directly apply to contextual bandits.
SLEM uses machine learning to improve causal inference from observational data.
problem Improving causal inference from observational data using non-linear relationships.
method Super Learner Equation Modeling integrating machine learning ensembles.
result SLEM provides consistent and unbiased estimates of causal effects.
Boosting for off-policy learning reduces empirical risk.
problem Learning from logged bandit feedback without labeled data.
method A boosting algorithm optimizing policy's expected reward.
result Excess empirical risk decreases with each round of boosting.
Robot learns multiple tasks hierarchically by transferring knowledge.
problem Learning multiple complex tasks in open-ended environments.
method Task-oriented procedures, goal-babbling, imitation learning, active learning, intrinsic motivation.
result Robots can learn complex tasks more efficiently by transferring knowledge from simpler ones.
Study the tradeoffs of bandit feedback in multiclass classification.
problem The price of using bandit feedback in multiclass classification.
method Mistake bound model, analysis of variants, and comparison of learners and adversaries.
result The optimal mistake bound under bandit feedback is at most O(k) times higher than in full information, with a tight bound of O(k). Meta-learning algorithm improves AI efficiency by teaching itself.
problem Overcoming meta-optimization challenges in AI learning.
method Bootstraps a target from the meta-learner and optimizes the meta-learner by minimizing distance under a chosen metric.
result Achieves state-of-the-art performance on Atari ALE benchmark and demonstrates efficiency gains in multi-task learning.
Paper explores generalization of minimax learners, proposing a new metric.
problem Understanding how minimax learners perform on unseen data.
method Proposes a new metric, the primal gap, to study generalization of minimax learners.
result Derives generalization error bounds for the primal gap in nonconvex-concave settings.
This study analyzes counterfactual explanations for student success models.
problem Improving trust in machine learning models for student success prediction.
method Comparison of counterfactual generation methods (WhatIf, Multi-Objective, Nearest Instance) for student success prediction models.
result WhatIf Counterfactual Explanations are more effective for student success prediction models.
GP-UCB resolves sublinear regret for kernelized bandits.
problem Minimizing regret in kernelized bandit problems.
method Using a new regularization technique for kernel ridge estimators, improving GP-UCB's sublinear regret rate.
result GP-UCB achieves nearly optimal sublinear regret for the Matérn kernel.
New method uses geometric properties for better density estimation.
problem Uncertainty quantification in ambiguous tasks.
method Winner-takes-all training with centroidal Voronoi tessellations.
result Improved quantization and density estimation.
In many sequential decision making tasks, it is challenging to design reward functions that help an RL agent efficiently learn behavior that is considered good by the agent designer. A number of different formulations of the reward-design problem, or close variants thereof, have been proposed in the literature. In this…
Improved private agnostic learning with near-optimal sample complexity.
problem Private agnostic learning with arbitrary privacy parameters.
method Near-optimal sample complexity construction.
result Near-optimal extra sample complexity of \(\widetilde{O}(\mathrm{VC}(\mathcal{C})/α^2)\) for any \(\varepsilon \leq 1\).
New HPO frameworks needed for continual learning.
problem No standard HPO for continual learning.
method Comparative study of HPO frameworks.
result No HPO framework consistently outperforms others.
Python library for causal discovery from observational data.
problem Revealing causal relations from observational data.
method Comprehensive collection of causal discovery methods in Python.
result Ease of use for non-specialists and modular building blocks for developers.
Characterizes statistical complexity of realizable regression in PAC and online learning.
problem Understanding the statistical complexity of realizable regression in both PAC and online learning settings.
method Introduces minimax instance optimal learners, novel and combinatorial dimensions to characterize learnability.
result Characterizes which classes of real-valued predictors are learnable and provides necessary conditions for learnability.
Deep learning is very effective at jointly learning feature representations and classification models, especially when dealing with high dimensional input patterns. Probabilistic logic reasoning, on the other hand, is capable to take consistent and robust decisions in complex environments. The integration of deep learn…
Ensemble learning is a methodology that integrates multiple DNN learners for improving prediction performance of individual learners. Diversity is greater when the errors of the ensemble prediction is more uniformly distributed. Greater diversity is highly correlated with the increase in ensemble accuracy. Another attr…
Optimal algorithm converts weak to strong learner with less data.
problem Constructing a strong learner from a weak learner with minimal data.
method New algorithm that uses less training data than AdaBoost.
result Optimal sample complexity for converting weak to strong learner.
New approach for open ad hoc teamwork using graph-based policy learning.
problem Designing autonomous agents to collaborate with changing teams without prior coordination.
method Graph-based policy learning to adapt to dynamic team compositions.
result Successfully models the effects of other agents, leading to robust adaptation and superior performance.
Learning curves show more data doesn't always improve performance.
problem The surprising finding that more data doesn't always lead to better generalization performance.
method A survey of learning curves, focusing on those that indicate more data doesn't necessarily improve performance.
result Learning curves can show that more data doesn't always lead to better generalization performance.
Local regularization fails in transductive learning for some multiclass problems.
problem Whether local regularization can learn all transductive multiclass problems.
method Provided a negative answer by exhibiting a specific multiclass problem.
result Local regularization cannot learn all transductive multiclass problems.
Inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) enables an agent to learn complex behavior by observing demonstrations from a (near-)optimal policy. The typical assumption is that the learner's goal is to match the teacher's demonstrated behavior. In this paper, we consider the setting where the learner has its own preferences th…
Meta clustering categorizes learners for collaborative learning.
problem Filtering out unqualified collaborators in collaborative learning.
method Select-Exchange-Cluster (SEC) method to classify learners by their supervised functions.
result SEC can cluster learners into accurate collaboration sets and enhance single-learner performance.
New meta-learners estimate time-varying treatment effects without model assumptions.
problem Estimating treatment effects over time in personalized medicine.
method Model-agnostic meta-learners for weighted pseudo-outcome regressions.
result Comprehensive theoretical analysis and practical insights for choosing meta-learners.
The infinitesimal jackknife (IJ) has recently been applied to the random forest to estimate its prediction variance. These theorems were verified under a traditional random forest framework which uses classification and regression trees (CART) and bootstrap resampling. However, random forests using conditional inferenc…
New survival learners estimate heterogeneous treatment effects from time-to-event data.
problem Estimating HTEs from time-to-event data with censoring outcomes.
method Orthogonal survival learners with theoretical guarantees and custom weighting functions.
result Orthogonal survival learners provide robust and model-agnostic HTE estimation.
Proposes a method to integrate learner models robustly against misspecifications.
problem Misspecifications in learner models and parameter sharing patterns degrade prediction accuracy.
method Sequentially incorporates additional learners based on user-specified parameter sharing patterns.
result Data-adaptively selects the most suitable way of parameter sharing to enhance predictive performance.
VTIRT speeds up IRT inference for dynamic learner proficiency.
problem Expensive and slow inference algorithms for dynamic IRT models.
method Variational Temporal IRT (VTIRT) for fast, accurate inference.
result Orders of magnitude speedup in inference runtime with accurate results.
Method selects the best deep learner for time-series prediction using Bayesian networks.
problem Selecting the most effective deep learning model for time-series prediction.
method Bayesian network selects deep learners based on input variables and cluster training data.
result Threshold value determines which deep learners predict time-series data robustly.
One of the most ambitious use cases of computer-assisted learning is to build a recommendation system for lifelong learning. Most recommender algorithms exploit similarities between content and users, overseeing the necessity to leverage sensible learning trajectories for the learner. Lifelong learning thus presents un…
Partial monitoring is a generalization of the well-known multi-armed bandit framework where the loss is not directly observed by the learner. We complete the classification of finite adversarial partial monitoring to include all games, solving an open problem posed by Bartok et al. [2014]. Along the way we simplify and…
Driven by the need for parallelizable hyperparameter optimization methods, this paper studies \emph{open loop} search methods: sequences that are predetermined and can be generated before a single configuration is evaluated. Examples include grid search, uniform random search, low discrepancy sequences, and other sampl…
In this paper, we make an important step towards the black-box machine teaching by considering the cross-space machine teaching, where the teacher and the learner use different feature representations and the teacher can not fully observe the learner's model. In such scenario, we study how the teacher is still able to …
New protocol for online learning with partial feedback, extending classical methods.
problem Learning with partial feedback where only one acceptable label is observed per round.
method Introducing a collection version space to address the lack of direct extension of classical methods.
result Characterization of learnability in set-realizable regime using Partial-Feedback Littlestone dimension and Partial-Feedback Measure Shattering dimension.
pystacked combines machine learning models for improved predictions.
problem Improving machine learning model performance through stacking.
method Stacked generalization using Python's scikit-learn with various base learners.
result Enhanced predictive models through combining multiple machine learning algorithms.
Study apple tasting feedback in online binary classification, providing new insights into minimax expected mistakes.
problem Online binary classification with partial feedback (apple tasting).
method Combinatorial analysis, Littlestone dimension, Effective width.
result Established a trichotomy of minimax expected mistakes in the realizable setting.
MTL2L learns to adapt optimisation rules for unseen data.
problem Learners need to adapt to unseen data domains.
method Introduces MTL2L, a context-aware neural optimiser.
result MTL2L can adapt optimisation rules for unseen data.