Bayesian inference using stochastic neural networks ensembles.
problem Approximating Bayesian posterior distributions.
method Formulate stochastic ensembles of neural networks, train with variational inference, and evaluate using Monte Carlo dropout.
result Stochastic ensembles provide more accurate posterior estimates than other methods.
We develop stochastic variational inference, a scalable algorithm for approximating posterior distributions. We develop this technique for a large class of probabilistic models and we demonstrate it with two probabilistic topic models, latent Dirichlet allocation and the hierarchical Dirichlet process topic model. Usin…
Stochastic variational inference for collapsed models has recently been successfully applied to large scale topic modelling. In this paper, we propose a stochastic collapsed variational inference algorithm in the sequential data setting. Our algorithm is applicable to both finite hidden Markov models and hierarchical D…
Improves understanding of stochastic NGVI convergence rates.
problem Lack of knowledge about non-asymptotic convergence rates in stochastic NGVI.
method Proved non-asymptotic convergence rates for conjugate likelihoods and showed implicit optimization for non-conjugate likelihoods.
result First O(T1) non-asymptotic convergence rate for stochastic NGVI in conjugate likelihoods. We introduce the notion of a stochastic probabilistic program and present a reference implementation of a probabilistic programming facility supporting specification of stochastic probabilistic programs and inference in them. Stochastic probabilistic programs allow straightforward specification and efficient inference …
Bayesian approach for policy search in stochastic domains.
problem Policy search in stochastic domains.
method Nested probabilistic programs, Lightweight Metropolis-Hastings (LMH) adaptation.
result Similar quality policies learned with simpler algorithm.
Paper proposes a second-order method for faster SVI convergence.
problem Poor convergence rate of first-order SVI algorithms.
method Derives Hessian matrix and implements two numerical schemes for efficient second-order SVI.
result Proposed approach achieves faster convergence compared to first-order SVI.
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…
Scalable Gaussian process models trained with unbiased stochastic ELBO.
problem Training large capacity Gaussian process models on huge datasets.
method Unbiased stochastic variational inference for scalable GPs.
result Accurate inference on large datasets with up to 10 million basis functions.
Stochastic VB improves nonlinear model inference speed and accuracy.
problem Bayesian inference of nonlinear models from noisy data.
method Stochastic Variational Bayesian (VB) inference for nonlinear models.
result Stochastic VB achieves comparable parameter recovery to analytical solution but is faster.
We propose a generic framework to calibrate accuracy and confidence of a prediction in deep neural networks through stochastic inferences. We interpret stochastic regularization using a Bayesian model, and analyze the relation between predictive uncertainty of networks and variance of the prediction scores obtained by …
Variational inference approximates the posterior distribution of a probabilistic model with a parameterized density by maximizing a lower bound for the model evidence. Modern solutions fit a flexible approximation with stochastic gradient descent, using Monte Carlo approximation for the gradients. This enables variatio…
New guarantees for black-box variational inference methods.
problem Insufficient theoretical guarantees for black-box variational inference.
method Novel convergence guarantees for stochastic optimization of variational inference.
result Provable convergence of proximal and projected stochastic gradient descent for variational inference.
We develop a scalable method for Bayesian neural networks with stochastic differential equations.
problem Uncertainty quantification in deep neural networks.
method Gradient-based stochastic variational inference in continuous-depth Bayesian neural networks.
result Gradient estimator with zero variance as the approximation improves.
Variational inference has experienced a recent surge in popularity owing to stochastic approaches, which have yielded practical tools for a wide range of model classes. A key benefit is that stochastic variational inference obviates the tedious process of deriving analytical expressions for closed-form variable updates…
A new method for efficient inference in probabilistic programs with mixed support.
problem Challenges in inference for programs with both continuous and discrete latent variables.
method Stochastic gradient Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms.
result Outperforms existing composing inference baselines and works almost as well as inference in marginalized versions.
New algorithms improve GP inference without approximations, achieving better results.
problem Inexact stochastic optimization methods in Gaussian Processes leading to biased results.
method Exact stochastic inference for GPs with finite dimensional RKHS, extending to infinite dimensions.
result Achieves better experimental results than existing methods in constrained resource settings.
Stochastic variational inference allows for fast posterior inference in complex Bayesian models. However, the algorithm is prone to local optima which can make the quality of the posterior approximation sensitive to the choice of hyperparameters and initialization. We address this problem by replacing the natural gradi…
New framework for Bayesian inference using neural Schrödinger-Föllmer flows.
problem Approximate Bayesian inference in large datasets.
method Stochastic control, Schrödinger bridges, SDE-based models.
result Advocates stochastic control as a finite time and low variance alternative to SGLD.
Framework infers Langevin dynamics from stochastic observations of latent systems.
problem Inferring non-stationary Langevin dynamics from indirect stochastic observations.
method Non-parametric framework explicitly modeling stochastic observation process and non-stationary latent dynamics.
result Correct inference of non-stationary dynamics requires accounting for non-equilibrium states and observation duration.
Bayesian bandit algorithms with approximate inference improve regret bounds in stochastic linear bandits.
problem Theoretical justification for Bayesian bandit algorithms with approximate inference in stochastic linear bandits.
method Proposed a theoretical framework to analyze approximate inference impact and conducted frequentist regret analysis on LinTS and LinBUCB.
result LinTS and LinBUCB preserve their original regret upper bounds with larger constant terms in approximate inference settings.
Paper develops online statistical inference methods for stochastic optimization using Kiefer-Wolfowitz algorithms.
problem Online statistical inference of model parameters in stochastic optimization problems.
method Kiefer-Wolfowitz algorithm with random search directions, asymptotic distribution analysis.
result Developed valid confidence intervals for online statistical inference.
SLIM efficiently solves overidentified models in a scalable manner.
problem Overidentified models with many moment conditions.
method Stochastic approximation framework using mini-batches and unbiased updates.
result SLIM solves overidentified models in under 1.4 hours, compared to 18 hours for full-sample GMM.
We empirically evaluate a stochastic annealing strategy for Bayesian posterior optimization with variational inference. Variational inference is a deterministic approach to approximate posterior inference in Bayesian models in which a typically non-convex objective function is locally optimized over the parameters of t…
Improved Bayesian neural network inference by selectively removing redundant modes.
problem Redundant modes in Bayesian neural network posteriors complicate approximate inference.
method Structured partial stochasticity and deterministic subset selection of weights.
result Improved performance of approximate inference schemes with simplified posterior distribution.
Scalable model checking for stochastic systems using Gaussian Processes and Bayesian Neural Networks.
problem Efficiently verifying properties of stochastic systems with high-dimensional parameter spaces.
method Stochastic Variational Smoothed Model Checking (SV-smMC) using Gaussian Processes and Bayesian Neural Networks.
result SV-smMC scales to larger datasets and enables application to high-dimensional parameter spaces.
New method for online inference of constrained optimization problems.
problem Online inference of constrained stochastic optimization problems.
method Random scaling of Sketched Stochastic Sequential Quadratic Programming (SSQP).
result Asymptotically valid confidence intervals and matrix-free computation.
A new method interpolates between sampling and variational inference using stochastic mixtures.
problem Combining the strengths of sampling and variational inference methods.
method Develops a framework using stochastic mixtures of simple component distributions to interpolate between sampling and variational inference.
result Improves on both sampling and variational inference methods by reducing bias and variance.
Study on statistical inference for nonlinear stochastic approximation with Markovian data.
problem Statistical inference for nonlinear stochastic approximation algorithms with Markovian data.
method Established a functional central limit theorem for the partial-sum process of the target parameter estimate, providing asymptotic pivotal statistics for constructing confidence intervals.
result Valid and efficient asymptotic inference method for nonlinear stochastic approximation algorithms with Markovian data.
The paper develops time-uniform inference methods for stochastic approximation parameters.
problem Statistical inference for parameters in stochastic approximation problems.
method Analysis of averaged iterates convergence rates and construction of asymptotic confidence sequences.
result Valid asymptotic confidence sequences for parameters in stochastic approximation problems.
Stochastic volatility models describe stock returns rt as driven by an unobserved process capturing the random dynamics of volatility vt. The present paper quantifies how much information about volatility vt and future stock returns can be inferred from past returns in stochastic volatility models in terms of …
Stochastic Bayesian Neural Network improves scalability and performance.
problem Challenges in calculating posterior distribution in Bayesian Neural Networks.
method Maximizes Evidence Lower Bound using Stochastic Evidence Lower Bound objective function.
result Demonstrates improved performance and scalability over previous algorithms.
BBVI relies on adaptive stochastic optimization algorithms for posterior approximation, but these require extensive tuning.
problem BBVI posterior approximation
method Adaptive stochastic optimization algorithms
result No single method dominates, but a selection of 5 suffices.
BOED improves SBI by optimizing experimental designs and inference functions.
problem Efficiently use experimental resources for better inference on complex models.
method Link mutual information bounds between SBI and BOED, optimizing both design and inference.
result BOED improves inference in real-world simulators in epidemiology and biology.
We introduce TrustVI, a fast second-order algorithm for black-box variational inference based on trust-region optimization and the reparameterization trick. At each iteration, TrustVI proposes and assesses a step based on minibatches of draws from the variational distribution. The algorithm provably converges to a stat…
Stochastic optimization techniques are standard in variational inference algorithms. These methods estimate gradients by approximating expectations with independent Monte Carlo samples. In this paper, we explore a technique that uses correlated, but more representative , samples to reduce estimator variance. Specifical…
Bayesian neural networks can be partially stochastic without losing predictive power.
problem The necessity of fully stochastic parameters in Bayesian neural networks.
method Theoretical and empirical investigation of partially stochastic networks compared to fully stochastic ones.
result Expressive predictive distributions require only small amounts of stochasticity, and partially stochastic networks can match or outperform fully stochastic networks.
Bayesian inference for stochastic differential equations using Wishart diffusions.
problem Inferring stochastic differential equations for regression and dynamical modeling.
method Bayesian non-parametric approach with semi-parametric Wishart processes.
result Modeling diffusion in stochastic differential equations improves performance and avoids overfitting.
New method infers dynamical systems from population data.
problem Inferring dynamical systems from population data.
method Deducing and estimating Fokker-Planck equation, projecting to test functions, sparse inference.
result Induces driving forces of dynamical systems.
New method optimizes sensor placement for stochastic systems efficiently.
problem Optimizing sensor placements for black-box stochastic systems with computational constraints.
method Trains a joint energy-based model on simulation data to learn parameter and solution distributions, allowing efficient sensor placement.
result Demonstrates lower computational cost and more informative sensor locations compared to conventional approaches.
We present a hybrid algorithm for Bayesian topic models that combines the efficiency of sparse Gibbs sampling with the scalability of online stochastic inference. We used our algorithm to analyze a corpus of 1.2 million books (33 billion words) with thousands of topics. Our approach reduces the bias of variational infe…
CoSMIC extends flow-based SVI to transdimensional problems.
problem Bayesian structure learning and model selection with multi-model parameter spaces.
method Normalizing flows with a combined stochastic variational transdimensional inference approach.
result Improved performance on high-cardinality model spaces.
We propose a stochastic gradient Markov chain Monte Carlo (SG-MCMC) algorithm for scalable inference in mixed-membership stochastic blockmodels (MMSB). Our algorithm is based on the stochastic gradient Riemannian Langevin sampler and achieves both faster speed and higher accuracy at every iteration than the current sta…
Stochastic Stein Discrepancies improve inference efficiency.
problem Intractable computation of Stein discrepancies.
method Subsampled approximations of Stein operators.
result Stochastic Stein Discrepancies inherit convergence properties of standard SDs.
Posterior inference in directed graphical models is commonly done using a probabilistic encoder (a.k.a inference model) conditioned on the input. Often this inference model is trained jointly with the probabilistic decoder (a.k.a generator model). If probabilistic encoder encounters complexities during training (e.g. s…
Bayesian approach to optimal transport with stochastic costs.
problem Inferring optimal transport plans with uncertain costs.
method Bayesian framework and Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) sampling.
result Inference of optimal transport plans under stochastic cost functions.
We describe Venture, an interactive virtual machine for probabilistic programming that aims to be sufficiently expressive, extensible, and efficient for general-purpose use. Like Church, probabilistic models and inference problems in Venture are specified via a Turing-complete, higher-order probabilistic language desce…
Efficient method for high confidence level inference using parallel stochastic optimization.
problem Uncertainty quantification for online estimation.
method Small number of independent multi-runs to construct t-based confidence intervals.
result Rigorous theoretical guarantee for exact coverage of confidence intervals.