Education
Following High-level Navigation Instructions on a Simulated Quadcopter with Imitation Learning
Blukis, Valts, Brukhim, Nataly, Bennett, Andrew, Knepper, Ross A., Artzi, Yoav
We introduce a method for following high-level navigation instructions by mapping directly from images, instructions and pose estimates to continuous low-level velocity commands for real-time control. The Grounded Semantic Mapping Network (GSMN) is a fully-differentiable neural network architecture that builds an explicit semantic map in the world reference frame by incorporating a pinhole camera projection model within the network. The information stored in the map is learned from experience, while the local-to-world transformation is computed explicitly. We train the model using DAggerFM, a modified variant of DAgger that trades tabular convergence guarantees for improved training speed and memory use. We test GSMN in virtual environments on a realistic quadcopter simulator and show that incorporating an explicit mapping and grounding modules allows GSMN to outperform strong neural baselines and almost reach an expert policy performance. Finally, we analyze the learned map representations and show that using an explicit map leads to an interpretable instruction-following model.
Asymptotic performance of regularized multi-task learning
This paper analyzes asymptotic performance of a regularized multi-task learning model where task parameters are optimized jointly. If tasks are closely related, empirical work suggests multi-task learning models to outperform single-task ones in finite sample cases. As data size grows indefinitely, we show the learned multi-classifier to optimize an average misclassification error function which depicts the risk of applying multi-task learning algorithm to making decisions. This technique conclusion demonstrates the regularized multi-task learning model to be able to produce reliable decision rule for each task in the sense that it will asymptotically converge to the corresponding Bayes rule. Also, we find the interaction effect between tasks vanishes as data size growing indefinitely, which is quite different from the behavior in finite sample cases.
On the Convergence of Stochastic Gradient Descent with Adaptive Stepsizes
Li, Xiaoyu, Orabona, Francesco
Stochastic gradient descent is the method of choice for large scale optimization of machine learning objective functions. Yet, its performance is greatly variable and heavily depends on the choice of the stepsizes. This has motivated a large body of research on adaptive stepsizes. However, there is currently a gap in our theoretical understanding of these methods, especially in the non-convex setting. In this paper, we start closing this gap: we theoretically analyze the use of adaptive stepsizes, like the ones in AdaGrad, in the non-convex setting. We show sufficient conditions for almost sure convergence to a stationary point when the adaptive stepsizes are used, proving the first guarantee for AdaGrad in the non-convex setting. Moreover, we show explicit rates of convergence that automatically interpolates between $O(1/T)$ and $O(1/\sqrt{T})$ depending on the noise of the stochastic gradients, in both the convex and non-convex setting.
Improving the Performance of a Neural Network
Neural networks are machine learning algorithms that provide state of the accuracy on many use cases. But, a lot of times the accuracy of the network we are building might not be satisfactory or might not take us to the top positions on the leaderboard in data science competitions. Therefore, we are always looking for better ways to improve the performance of our models. There are many techniques available that could help us achieve that. Follow along to get to know them and to build your own accurate neural network.
WEBINAR: Quantifying Uncertainty: Bayesian Data Analysis in Python
It's impossible to collect all the relevant data to answer any particular question, so there is necessarily uncertainty in our analysis. As such, we need to quantify the uncertainty and from that judge our results. Traditional statistical methods (also called frequentist methods) such as hypothesis testing and confidence intervals often don't address this appropriately. For example, we typically want to know the probability that a parameter falls in some range, but this type of analysis is unavailable from a frequentist perspective. Developing a statistical model with frequentist methods is often out of reach for typical data analysts so they are left asking "What test do I apply to this data?"
TechVisor - Het vizier op de tech industrie
When I was a graduate student in cognitive science, I spent countless hours poring over videos and transcripts of natural language, looking for patterns in the data that could help me better understand how people learn words, concepts, and categories. We support the company's mission to make AI beneficial to everyone by helping educate Googlers and others on how to build machine learning (ML) models that look for patterns in data in order to solve a variety of problems. Back in February, our team shared our internal Machine Learning Crash Course (MLCC) with the world to help more developers learn to use ML. Since then, we've heard from many people who are hungry for more ML education. In particular, you want to learn from teams who have built and deployed ML models.
Active Shooter video game that lets children play as a gunman in a school shooting is finally pulled
A blood-thirsty video game that encouraged players to take part in a school shooting has been pulled by the publisher after it triggered a furious backlash. 'Active Shooter' was marketed on its ability to allow players to take on the role of a gunman on a murderous rampage inside a school, as well as a SWAT team member trying to stop the bloodshed. As the lone gunman, players would be shown a tally of the number of civilians and police officers they managed to kill during their simulated shooting spree. Anti-gun violence charity Infer Trust described the game as'horrendous' and in'bad taste' given the recent mass shootings in the US. An online petition calling for the game to be scrapped gained more than 194,700 signatures.
'Active Shooter' video game simulating school shootings developed by 'a troll,' pulled from platform
A computer video game called'Active Shooter' would allow players to choose between a member of a SWAT team disarming an active shooter, or to become the shooter themselves. The owners of video game marketplace Steam said it has removed a game where players could simulate a school shooting either as police or the shooter themselves. Valve Corporation said it has pulled Active Shooter, which was scheduled to launch on the Steam platform June 6. Valve also said after investigating the controversy surrounding the game, it learned a person identified as Ata Berdiyev was behind the game's publisher, Revived Games, and developer Acid. Active Shooter was described as a "dynamic SWAT simulator" where players can choose to work as the member of a SWAT team attempting to disarm the shooter, or the shooter themselves.
Active Shooter: school-shooting video game removed from sale
A video game designed to simulate school shooting scenarios has been removed from the digital games store Steam. Active Shooter was due to be launched on the popular PC gaming site on 6 June, provoking an outcry from politicians and the parents of children killed during the Parkland shooting in Florida. A petition calling for the game to be removed from the store was signed by more than 180,000 people. Valve Corporation, which runs the Steam site used by more than 100 million people, said in a statement: "We have removed the developer Revived Games and publisher ACID from Steam. This developer and publisher is, in fact, a person calling himself Ata Berdiyev, who had previously been removed last fall when he was operating as '[bc]Interactive' and'Elusive Team.'"