328 research outputs found
Statistical Learning of Arbitrary Computable Classifiers
Statistical learning theory chiefly studies restricted hypothesis classes,
particularly those with finite Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC) dimension. The
fundamental quantity of interest is the sample complexity: the number of
samples required to learn to a specified level of accuracy. Here we consider
learning over the set of all computable labeling functions. Since the
VC-dimension is infinite and a priori (uniform) bounds on the number of samples
are impossible, we let the learning algorithm decide when it has seen
sufficient samples to have learned. We first show that learning in this setting
is indeed possible, and develop a learning algorithm. We then show, however,
that bounding sample complexity independently of the distribution is
impossible. Notably, this impossibility is entirely due to the requirement that
the learning algorithm be computable, and not due to the statistical nature of
the problem.Comment: Expanded the section on prior work and added reference
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