HOUDINI: Lifelong Learning as Program Synthesis

Lazar Valkov, Dipak Chaudhari, Akash Srivastava, Charles Sutton, Swarat Chaudhuri

Neural Information Processing Systems 

We present a neurosymbolic framework for the lifelong learning of algorithmic tasks that mix perception and procedural reasoning. Reusing high-level concepts across domains and learning complex procedures are key challenges in lifelong learning. We show that a program synthesis approach that combines gradient descent with combinatorial search over programs can be a more effective response to these challenges than purely neural methods.