5 research outputs found
Active machine learning for spatio-temporal predictions using feature embedding
Active learning (AL) could contribute to solving critical environmental
problems through improved spatio-temporal predictions. Yet such predictions
involve high-dimensional feature spaces with mixed data types and missing data,
which existing methods have difficulties dealing with. Here, we propose a novel
batch AL method that fills this gap. We encode and cluster features of
candidate data points, and query the best data based on the distance of
embedded features to their cluster centers. We introduce a new metric of
informativeness that we call embedding entropy and a general class of neural
networks that we call embedding networks for using it. Empirical tests on
forecasting electricity demand show a simultaneous reduction in prediction
error by up to 63-88% and data usage by up to 50-69% compared to passive
learning (PL) benchmarks
How to Reuse and Compose Knowledge for a Lifetime of Tasks: A Survey on Continual Learning and Functional Composition
A major goal of artificial intelligence (AI) is to create an agent capable of
acquiring a general understanding of the world. Such an agent would require the
ability to continually accumulate and build upon its knowledge as it encounters
new experiences. Lifelong or continual learning addresses this setting, whereby
an agent faces a continual stream of problems and must strive to capture the
knowledge necessary for solving each new task it encounters. If the agent is
capable of accumulating knowledge in some form of compositional representation,
it could then selectively reuse and combine relevant pieces of knowledge to
construct novel solutions. Despite the intuitive appeal of this simple idea,
the literatures on lifelong learning and compositional learning have proceeded
largely separately. In an effort to promote developments that bridge between
the two fields, this article surveys their respective research landscapes and
discusses existing and future connections between them