No Arabic abstract
In this paper we study the approximate minimization problem for language modelling. We assume we are given some language model as a black box. The objective is to obtain a weighted finite automaton (WFA) that fits within a given size constraint and which mimics the behaviour of the original model while minimizing some notion of distance between the black box and the extracted WFA. We provide an algorithm for the approximate minimization of black boxes trained for language modelling of sequential data over a one-letter alphabet. By reformulating the problem in terms of Hankel matrices, we leverage classical results on the approximation of Hankel operators, namely the celebrated Adamyan-Arov-Krein (AAK) theory. This allows us to use the spectral norm to measure the distance between the black box and the WFA. We provide theoretical guarantees to study the potentially infinite-rank Hankel matrix of the black box, without accessing the training data, and we prove that our method returns an asymptotically-optimal approximation.
We address the approximate minimization problem for weighted finite automata (WFAs) with weights in $mathbb{R}$, over a one-letter alphabet: to compute the best possible approximation of a WFA given a bound on the number of states. This work is grounded in Adamyan-Arov-Krein Approximation theory, a remarkable collection of results on the approximation of Hankel operators. In addition to its intrinsic mathematical relevance, this theory has proven to be very effective for model reduction. We adapt these results to the framework of weighted automata over a one-letter alphabet. We provide theoretical guarantees and bounds on the quality of the approximation in the spectral and $ell^2$ norm. We develop an algorithm that, based on the properties of Hankel operators, returns the optimal approximation in the spectral norm.
In this paper, we present connections between three models used in different research fields: weighted finite automata~(WFA) from formal languages and linguistics, recurrent neural networks used in machine learning, and tensor networks which encompasses a set of optimization techniques for high-order tensors used in quantum physics and numerical analysis. We first present an intrinsic relation between WFA and the tensor train decomposition, a particular form of tensor network. This relation allows us to exhibit a novel low rank structure of the Hankel matrix of a function computed by a WFA and to design an efficient spectral learning algorithm leveraging this structure to scale the algorithm up to very large Hankel matrices. We then unravel a fundamental connection between WFA and second-order recurrent neural networks~(2-RNN): in the case of sequences of discrete symbols, WFA and 2-RNN with linear activation functions are expressively equivalent. Furthermore, we introduce the first provable learning algorithm for linear 2-RNN defined over sequences of continuous input vectors. This algorithm relies on estimating low rank sub-blocks of the Hankel tensor, from which the parameters of a linear 2-RNN can be provably recovered. The performances of the proposed learning algorithm are assessed in a simulation study on both synthetic and real-world data.
This paper is an attempt to bridge the gap between deep learning and grammatical inference. Indeed, it provides an algorithm to extract a (stochastic) formal language from any recurrent neural network trained for language modelling. In detail, the algorithm uses the already trained network as an oracle -- and thus does not require the access to the inner representation of the black-box -- and applies a spectral approach to infer a weighted automaton. As weighted automata compute linear functions, they are computationally more efficient than neural networks and thus the nature of the approach is the one of knowledge distillation. We detail experiments on 62 data sets (both synthetic and from real-world applications) that allow an in-depth study of the abilities of the proposed algorithm. The results show the WA we extract are good approximations of the RNN, validating the approach. Moreover, we show how the process provides interesting insights toward the behavior of RNN learned on data, enlarging the scope of this work to the one of explainability of deep learning models.
Let S be a commutative semiring. M. Droste and P. Gastin have introduced in 2005 weighted monadic second order logic WMSOL with weights in S. They use a syntactic fragment RMSOL of WMSOL to characterize word functions (power series) recognizable by weighted automata, where the semantics of quantifiers is used both as arithmetical operations and, in the boolean case, as quantification. Already in 2001, B. Courcelle, J.Makowsky and U. Rotics have introduced a formalism for graph parameters definable in Monadic Second order Logic, here called MSOLEVAL with values in a ring R. Their framework can be easily adapted to semirings S. This formalism clearly separates the logical part from the arithmetical part and also applies to word functions. In this paper we give two proofs that RMSOL and MSOLEVAL with values in S have the same expressive power over words. One proof shows directly that MSOLEVAL captures the functions recognizable by weighted automata. The other proof shows how to translate the formalisms from one into the other.
For effective matching of resources (e.g., taxis, food, bikes, shopping items) to customer demand, aggregation systems have been extremely successful. In aggregation systems, a central entity (e.g., Uber, Food Panda, Ofo) aggregates supply (e.g., drivers, delivery personnel) and matches demand to supply on a continuous basis (sequential decisions). Due to the objective of the central entity to maximize its profits, individual suppliers get sacrificed thereby creating incentive for individuals to leave the system. In this paper, we consider the problem of learning approximate equilibrium solutions (win-win solutions) in aggregation systems, so that individuals have an incentive to remain in the aggregation system. Unfortunately, such systems have thousands of agents and have to consider demand uncertainty and the underlying problem is a (Partially Observable) Stochastic Game. Given the significant complexity of learning or planning in a stochastic game, we make three key contributions: (a) To exploit infinitesimally small contribution of each agent and anonymity (reward and transitions between agents are dependent on agent counts) in interactions, we represent this as a Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) problem that builds on insights from non-atomic congestion games model; (b) We provide a novel variance reduction mechanism for moving joint solution towards Nash Equilibrium that exploits the infinitesimally small contribution of each agent; and finally (c) We provide detailed results on three different domains to demonstrate the utility of our approach in comparison to state-of-the-art methods.