Safe Bayesian optimization method using information theory.
problem Optimizing unknown functions while respecting safety constraints.
method Information-theoretic exploration criterion for continuous domains.
result The method learns the value of the safe optimum up to arbitrary precision.
ARTEO algorithm optimizes safety-critical systems with uncertainty.
problem Decision-making under uncertainty with safety constraints in real-time optimization.
method ARTEO algorithm uses multi-armed bandits as a mathematical programming problem subject to safety constraints, learning unknown characteristics through exploration and incorporating uncertainty quantification.
result ARTEO achieves less cumulative regret with accurate and safe decisions.
Safe reinforcement learning framework using optimal transport for robustness.
problem Robustness and safety in deep reinforcement learning with limited data assumptions.
method Optimal transport perturbations to construct worst-case virtual state transitions.
result Significantly improved safety at deployment time compared to standard methods.
Enforcing safety is a key aspect of many problems pertaining to sequential decision making under uncertainty, which require the decisions made at every step to be both informative of the optimal decision and also safe. For example, we value both efficacy and comfort in medical therapy, and efficiency and safety in robo…
Risk-averse model uncertainty framework for safe reinforcement learning.
problem Safe decision making in uncertain environments.
method Risk-averse perspective towards model uncertainty using coherent distortion risk measures; equivalent to distributionally robust safe reinforcement learning problems; efficient, model-free implementation.
result Demonstrates robust performance and safety across perturbed test environments.
Investigates safe decision-making in interactive environments.
problem Learning the best safe decision in real-time systems.
method Reduces to a constrained linear bandits problem, proposes adaptive experimental design-based algorithm.
result First results on best-arm identification in linear bandits with safety constraints.
Algorithm reduces regret in safe Bayesian optimization with monotonicity constraints.
problem Sequentially maximize unknown function with safety constraints.
method Sequential algorithms using Gaussian processes with safety constraints modeled as monotonicity.
result Sublinear regret achieved for expanding safe region and finding optimal s. Autonomous driving decision-making is a great challenge due to the complexity and uncertainty of the traffic environment. Combined with the rule-based constraints, a Deep Q-Network (DQN) based method is applied for autonomous driving lane change decision-making task in this study. Through the combination of high-level …
An important problem in sequential decision-making under uncertainty is to use limited data to compute a safe policy, i.e., a policy that is guaranteed to perform at least as well as a given baseline strategy. In this paper, we develop and analyze a new model-based approach to compute a safe policy when we have access …
This paper proposes a method to safely adjust exploration in RL to satisfy constraints.
problem Unsafe exploration in reinforcement learning violates constraints on controlled object states.
method Automatic adjustment of exploration inputs and variance-covariance matrix for safety.
result The method guarantees satisfaction of joint chance constraints with specified probability.
Examines fairness in ML for health, highlighting its importance and challenges.
problem Ensuring fairness in ML models for health to prevent health disparities.
method Reviews fairness notions in ML for health, including group, individual, and causal-based approaches.
result Discusses the importance and challenges of fairness in health-focused ML applications.
A new RL model ensures safe learning in uncertain environments.
problem Safe reinforcement learning in uncertain, partially observable environments.
method Lyapunov-based uncertainty quantification and Transformers for memory.
result Significant improvement in safety and optimality in grid-world tasks.
Safety is a desirable property that can immensely increase the applicability of learning algorithms in real-world decision-making problems. It is much easier for a company to deploy an algorithm that is safe, i.e., guaranteed to perform at least as well as a baseline. In this paper, we study the issue of safety in cont…
Study best arm identification with safety constraints in bandit problems.
problem Real-world decision-making with safety constraints.
method Analyzed linear and monotonic reward and safety constraints, proposed algorithms.
result Guaranteed safe learning in both linear and general reward/safety constraint settings.
Proposes Constrained Q-learning for reinforcement learning with constraints.
problem Optimizing multiple objectives while adhering to constraints in reinforcement learning.
method Directly restricts the action space in Q-update to learn optimal Q-function for constrained MDP.
result Improves safety and optimality in high-level decision making for autonomous driving.
Develops new methods for risk-aware decision-making in medical bandits.
problem Risk-averse decision-making in medical contexts with limited data.
method Safe, anytime-valid concentration bounds, risk-aware contextual bandits, nonparametric algorithms.
result Improved decision-making algorithms for postoperative patient follow-up.
In many safety-critical applications such as autonomous driving and surgical robots, it is desirable to obtain prediction uncertainties from object detection modules to help support safe decision-making. Specifically, such modules need to estimate the probability of each predicted object in a given region and the confi…
In many real-world reinforcement learning (RL) problems, besides optimizing the main objective function, an agent must concurrently avoid violating a number of constraints. In particular, besides optimizing performance it is crucial to guarantee the safety of an agent during training as well as deployment (e.g. a robot…
We introduce the safe linear stochastic bandit framework---a generalization of linear stochastic bandits---where, in each stage, the learner is required to select an arm with an expected reward that is no less than a predetermined (safe) threshold with high probability. We assume that the learner initially has knowledg…
In order to drive safely and efficiently under merging scenarios, autonomous vehicles should be aware of their surroundings and make decisions by interacting with other road participants. Moreover, different strategies should be made when the autonomous vehicle is interacting with drivers having different level of coop…
CoCoRL learns safe constraints from demonstrations with unknown rewards.
problem Learning safe constraints from demonstrations with different unknown rewards.
method Convex Constraint Learning for Reinforcement Learning (CoCoRL) constructs a convex safe set based on demonstrations.
result CoCoRL learns constraints that lead to safe driving behavior and can safely transfer to different tasks and environments.
SafePILCO is a Python tool for safe reinforcement learning.
problem Safe and efficient policy synthesis in reinforcement learning.
method Extends PILCO algorithm with safety features, implemented in Python.
result Safe and data-efficient policy synthesis achieved.
New risk metric for AI systems reduces safety risks with minimal data.
problem Risk assessment in multi-agent AI systems.
method Free Energy Principle applied to risk metrics, introducing Cumulative Risk Exposure.
result Gatekeepers improve system safety in autonomous vehicle fleets.
Safe learning of stochastic dynamics with safety constraints.
problem Learning controlled stochastic dynamics with safety constraints.
method Iterative expansion of a safe control set using kernel-based confidence bounds.
result The method ensures safe exploration and efficient estimation of system dynamics.
High dimensional regression benefits from sparsity promoting regularizations. Screening rules leverage the known sparsity of the solution by ignoring some variables in the optimization, hence speeding up solvers. When the procedure is proven not to discard features wrongly the rules are said to be \emph{safe}. In this …
We show that when a third party, the adversary, steps into the two-party setting (agent and operator) of safely interruptible reinforcement learning, a trade-off has to be made between the probability of following the optimal policy in the limit, and the probability of escaping a dangerous situation created by the adve…
Study on neural networks to identify redundancy issues in safe machine learning.
problem Identifying redundancy in neural network architectures for safe machine learning.
method Experiments with MNIST database using neural network classifiers.
result Underlines difficulties in using neural network classifiers for safe systems.
We study safe screening for metric learning. Distance metric learning can optimize a metric over a set of triplets, each one of which is defined by a pair of same class instances and an instance in a different class. However, the number of possible triplets is quite huge even for a small dataset. Our safe triplet scree…
Future Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV), and more generally ITS, will form a highly interconnected system. Such a paradigm is referred to as the Internet of Vehicles (herein Internet of CAVs) and is a prerequisite to orchestrate traffic flows in cities. For optimal decision making and supervision, traffic centres…
Bitcoin fails to prove safe haven status during pandemic.
problem Determining if Bitcoin is a reliable safe haven asset during crises.
method Quantile correlations of Bitcoin with S&P500, VIX, and gold.
result Gold is a better safe haven during crises, not Bitcoin.
Proposes a method to accelerate safe sequential learning using offline data.
problem Limited exploration due to disconnected safe regions and slow task learning.
method Safe transfer sequential learning using Gaussian processes and offline data.
result Enhances global exploration across multiple disjoint safe regions with lower data consumption.
Meta-learning priors improves safe Bayesian optimization.
problem Optimizing robot controllers under safety constraints.
method Meta-learning priors from offline data using F-PACOH.
result Meta-learned priors accelerate safe BO convergence.
Revel tackles safe exploration in RL with verified symbolic policies.
problem Computational infeasibility of verifying neural networks in RL learning loops.
method Two policy classes: neurosymbolic with approximate gradients and symbolic policies for efficient verification. Mirror descent over policies to safely update and project policies.
result Revel discovers policies that outperform prior approaches to verified exploration.
ASE safely explores unknown MDPs with unknown dynamics, improving sample efficiency.
problem Balancing exploration and safety in unknown MDPs with stochastic dynamics.
method Exploits analogies between state-action pairs to safely learn near-optimal policies.
result Empirically improves sample efficiency compared to existing methods.
Safe-House secures DeFi by limiting losses and enhancing security.
problem Ongoing hacks and security concerns in DeFi.
method Safe-House uses blockchain principles to secure asset movements.
result Safe-House limits maximum one-time loss to specified limits.
In the real world, agents often have to operate in situations with incomplete information, limited sensing capabilities, and inherently stochastic environments, making individual observations incomplete and unreliable. Moreover, in many situations it is preferable to delay a decision rather than run the risk of making …
OSIL learns safe policies from unsafe demonstrations.
problem Offline safe imitation learning with implicit safety.
method Formulates CMDP, infers safety from non-preferred trajectories, learns cost model.
result OSIL learns safer policies without degrading reward performance.
We study the problem of safe learning and exploration in sequential control problems. The goal is to safely collect data samples from operating in an environment, in order to learn to achieve a challenging control goal (e.g., an agile maneuver close to a boundary). A central challenge in this setting is how to quantify…
The problem of learning a sparse model is conceptually interpreted as the process of identifying active features/samples and then optimizing the model over them. Recently introduced safe screening allows us to identify a part of non-active features/samples. So far, safe screening has been individually studied either fo…
A new screening rule 'dynamic Sasvi' improves sparse optimization speed.
problem Sparse optimization problem identification.
method Flexible framework based on Fenchel-Rockafellar duality for norm-regularized least squares.
result Dynamic Sasvi can eliminate more features and increase solver speed.
Crypto-assets perform better than gold as safe-havens during market crashes.
problem Evaluating safe-haven properties of crypto-assets and gold during the 2020 market crash.
method Comparative analysis of Crypto-assets (Tether, Cardano, Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple) and gold for European indices.
result Tether, Cardano, and Dogecoin exhibited hedging properties similar to gold, while gold was not more efficient as a safe-haven.
Safe autonomous decisions made with machine learning predictions using Conformal Decision Theory.
problem Safe decisions from imperfect machine learning predictions.
method Conformal Decision Theory framework for producing safe decisions.
result Safe decisions with provable statistical guarantees of low risk.
Safe screening rules reduce computation time in logistic regression with ℓ0−ℓ2 regularization.
problem Efficiently solving logistic regression with many features and regularization.
method Screening rules based on Fenchel dual lower bounds of strong conic relaxations.
result A high percentage of features can be safely removed before solving, leading to substantial speed-up.
In high dimensional regression settings, sparsity enforcing penalties have proved useful to regularize the data-fitting term. A recently introduced technique called screening rules propose to ignore some variables in the optimization leveraging the expected sparsity of the solutions and consequently leading to faster s…
SAMBA improves safe reinforcement learning with active exploration metrics.
problem Safe reinforcement learning in dynamic systems.
method Combines probabilistic modelling, information theory, and statistics. Uses novel metrics for out-of-sample Gaussian process evaluation.
result Orders of magnitude reduction in samples and violations compared to state-of-the-art methods.
Safe-M3-UCRL learns safe policies for multi-agent systems with global constraints.
problem Global constraints in mean-field reinforcement learning for multi-agent systems.
method Safe-M3-UCRL uses epistemic uncertainty and log-barrier approach to ensure constraints satisfaction. result Safe-M3-UCRL learns safe policies for multi-agent systems with global constraints. During times of extreme market turmoil, it is acknowledged that there is a tendency towards "flight to safety". A strong (weak) safe haven is defined as an asset that has a significant positive (negative) return in periods where another asset is in distress, while hedge has to be negatively correlated (uncorrelated) on…
Adapts safe policies for exploration in high-risk settings.
problem Balancing safety and exploration in high-risk environments.
method Uses conformal calibration on a safe reference policy to determine aggressive action limits.
result Safe exploration improves performance without requiring model class identification or hyperparameter tuning.