posterior predictive
A Predictive View on Streaming Hidden Markov Models
We develop a predictive-first optimisation framework for streaming hidden Markov models. Unlike classical approaches that prioritise full posterior recovery under a fully specified generative model, we assume access to regime-specific predictive models whose parameters are learned online while maintaining a fixed transition prior over regimes. Our objective is to sequentially identify latent regimes while maintaining accurate step-ahead predictive distributions. Because the number of possible regime paths grows exponentially, exact filtering is infeasible. We therefore formulate streaming inference as a constrained projection problem in predictive-distribution space: under a fixed hypothesis budget, we approximate the full posterior predictive by the forward-KL optimal mixture supported on $S$ paths. The solution is the renormalised top-$S$ posterior-weighted mixture, providing a principled derivation of beam search for HMMs. The resulting algorithm is fully recursive and deterministic, performing beam-style truncation with closed-form predictive updates and requiring neither EM nor sampling. Empirical comparisons against Online EM and Sequential Monte Carlo under matched computational budgets demonstrate competitive prequential performance.
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- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Learning Graphical Models > Undirected Networks > Markov Models (0.93)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Learning Graphical Models > Directed Networks > Bayesian Learning (0.69)
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- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Representation & Reasoning > Uncertainty > Bayesian Inference (0.68)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Learning Graphical Models > Directed Networks > Bayesian Learning (0.67)
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- Europe > Germany > Baden-Württemberg > Tübingen Region > Tübingen (0.04)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Representation & Reasoning > Uncertainty > Bayesian Inference (0.68)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Learning Graphical Models > Directed Networks > Bayesian Learning (0.67)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Neural Networks > Deep Learning (0.65)
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- North America > Canada > Quebec > Montreal (0.04)
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- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Neural Networks (1.00)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Representation & Reasoning > Uncertainty > Bayesian Inference (0.46)
Scalable Generalized Bayesian Online Neural Network Training for Sequential Decision Making
Duran-Martin, Gerardo, Sánchez-Betancourt, Leandro, Cartea, Álvaro, Murphy, Kevin
We introduce scalable algorithms for online learning and generalized Bayesian inference of neural network parameters, designed for sequential decision making tasks. Our methods combine the strengths of frequentist and Bayesian filtering, which include fast low-rank updates via a block-diagonal approximation of the parameter error covariance, and a well-defined posterior predictive distribution that we use for decision making. More precisely, our main method updates a low-rank error covariance for the hidden layers parameters, and a full-rank error covariance for the final layer parameters. Although this characterizes an improper posterior, we show that the resulting posterior predictive distribution is well-defined. Our methods update all network parameters online, with no need for replay buffers or offline retraining. We show, empirically, that our methods achieve a competitive tradeoff between speed and accuracy on (non-stationary) contextual bandit problems and Bayesian optimization problems.
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DeepRV: pre-trained spatial priors for accelerated disease mapping
Navott, Jhonathan, Jenson, Daniel, Flaxman, Seth, Semenova, Elizaveta
Recently introduced prior-encoding deep generative models (e.g., PriorVAE, $\pi$VAE, and PriorCVAE) have emerged as powerful tools for scalable Bayesian inference by emulating complex stochastic processes like Gaussian processes (GPs). However, these methods remain largely a proof-of-concept and inaccessible to practitioners. We propose DeepRV, a lightweight, decoder-only approach that accelerates training, and enhances real-world applicability in comparison to current VAE-based prior encoding approaches. Leveraging probabilistic programming frameworks (e.g., NumPyro) for inference, DeepRV achieves significant speedups while also improving the quality of parameter inference, closely matching full MCMC sampling. We showcase its effectiveness in process emulation and spatial analysis of the UK using simulated data, gender-wise cancer mortality rates for individuals under 50, and HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe. To bridge the gap between theory and practice, we provide a user-friendly API, enabling scalable and efficient Bayesian inference.
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