Motivated by the need for efficient and personalized learning in mobile health, we investigate the problem of online kernel selection for Gaussian Process regression in the multi-task setting. We propose a novel generative process on the kernel composition for this purpose. Our method demonstrates that trajectories of kernel evolutions can be transferred between users to improve learning and that the kernels themselves are meaningful for an mHealth prediction goal.
Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) and its variants have shown promising successes in approximate inference for complex distributions. However, their empirical performance depends crucially on the choice of optimal kernel. Unfortunately, RBF kernel with median heuristics is a common choice in previous approaches which has been proved sub-optimal. Inspired by the paradigm of multiple kernel learning, our solution to this issue is using a combination of multiple kernels to approximate the optimal kernel instead of a single one which may limit the performance and flexibility. To do so, we extend Kernelized Stein Discrepancy (KSD) to its multiple kernel view called Multiple Kernelized Stein Discrepancy (MKSD). Further, we leverage MKSD to construct a general algorithm based on SVGD, which be called Multiple Kernel SVGD (MK-SVGD). Besides, we automatically assign a weight to each kernel without any other parameters. The proposed method not only gets rid of optimal kernel dependence but also maintains computational effectiveness. Experiments on various tasks and models show the effectiveness of our method.
A primary motivation for the development and implementation of structural health monitoring systems, is the prospect of gaining the ability to make informed decisions regarding the operation and maintenance of structures and infrastructure. Unfortunately, descriptive labels for measured data corresponding to health-state information for the structure of interest are seldom available prior to the implementation of a monitoring system. This issue limits the applicability of the traditional supervised and unsupervised approaches to machine learning in the development of statistical classifiers for decision-supporting SHM systems. The current paper presents a risk-based formulation of active learning, in which the querying of class-label information is guided by the expected value of said information for each incipient data point. When applied to structural health monitoring, the querying of class labels can be mapped onto the inspection of a structure of interest in order to determine its health state. In the current paper, the risk-based active learning process is explained and visualised via a representative numerical example and subsequently applied to the Z24 Bridge benchmark. The results of the case studies indicate that a decision-makers performance can be improved via the risk-based active learning of a statistical classifier, such that the decision process itself is taken into account.
In this paper, we study Contextual Unsupervised Sequential Selection (USS), a new variant of the stochastic contextual bandits problem where the loss of an arm cannot be inferred from the observed feedback. In our setup, arms are associated with fixed costs and are ordered, forming a cascade. In each round, a context is presented, and the learner selects the arms sequentially till some depth. The total cost incurred by stopping at an arm is the sum of fixed costs of arms selected and the stochastic loss associated with the arm. The learners goal is to learn a decision rule that maps contexts to arms with the goal of minimizing the total expected loss. The problem is challenging as we are faced with an unsupervised setting as the total loss cannot be estimated. Clearly, learning is feasible only if the optimal arm can be inferred (explicitly or implicitly) from the problem structure. We observe that learning is still possible when the problem instance satisfies the so-called Contextual Weak Dominance (CWD) property. Under CWD, we propose an algorithm for the contextual USS problem and demonstrate that it has sub-linear regret. Experiments on synthetic and real datasets validate our algorithm.
Deep reinforcement learning has achieved impressive successes yet often requires a very large amount of interaction data. This result is perhaps unsurprising, as using complicated function approximation often requires more data to fit, and early theoretical results on linear Markov decision processes provide regret bounds that scale with the dimension of the linear approximation. Ideally, we would like to automatically identify the minimal dimension of the approximation that is sufficient to encode an optimal policy. Towards this end, we consider the problem of model selection in RL with function approximation, given a set of candidate RL algorithms with known regret guarantees. The learners goal is to adapt to the complexity of the optimal algorithm without knowing it textit{a priori}. We present a meta-algorithm that successively rejects increasingly complex models using a simple statistical test. Given at least one candidate that satisfies realizability, we prove the meta-algorithm adapts to the optimal complexity with $tilde{O}(L^{5/6} T^{2/3})$ regret compared to the optimal candidates $tilde{O}(sqrt T)$ regret, where $T$ is the number of episodes and $L$ is the number of algorithms. The dimension and horizon dependencies remain optimal with respect to the best candidate, and our meta-algorithmic approach is flexible to incorporate multiple candidate algorithms and models. Finally, we show that the meta-algorithm automatically admits significantly improved instance-dependent regret bounds that depend on the gaps between the maximal values attainable by the candidates.
We introduce an efficient algorithmic framework for model selection in online learning, also known as parameter-free online learning. Departing from previous work, which has focused on highly structured function classes such as nested balls in Hilbert space, we propose a generic meta-algorithm framework that achieves online model selection oracle inequalities under minimal structural assumptions. We give the first computationally efficient parameter-free algorithms that work in arbitrary Banach spaces under mild smoothness assumptions; previous results applied only to Hilbert spaces. We further derive new oracle inequalities for matrix classes, non-nested convex sets, and $mathbb{R}^{d}$ with generic regularizers. Finally, we generalize these results by providing oracle inequalities for arbitrary non-linear classes in the online supervised learning model. These results are all derived through a unified meta-algorithm scheme using a novel multi-scale algorithm for prediction with expert advice based on random playout, which may be of independent interest.