RI: Small: Training Modularized Learning Systems

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Machine Learning systems are becoming ubiquitous and increasingly complex in modern life. Many devices such as mobile phones continually run dozens of predictive models, and these models receive input not only from the user but also from each other. One way to think about the unexpected challenges of multiple interacting learning systems is to consider how humans interact in personal relationships or even how governments engage with each other during international disputes. Such scenarios involve hard-to-predict dynamics, where the introduction of a small amount of information or minor changes to strategy can give rise to highly different outcomes. This project aims to understand these interacting dynamics from an algorithmic perspective, with an eye towards designing modular learning systems where the implementer can be certain that the dynamics of training will reach a desired solution. The work will significantly increase the range of tasks and challenges where learning systems are applied in the real world and will have a strong impact on how artificial intelligence interacts with society.The project begins with a focus on game theory and builds off of a number of both classical and recent results in solving so-called min-max problems, where one wants to find the equilibrium of a zero-sum game. The hugely popular Generative Adversarial Networks provide a great example where the training objective is framed as two competing modules engaged in a search for a min-max solution. There has been a great deal of work in finding equilibria using learning systems, and recent work by the investigator has shown that several fundamental convex optimization procedures can be viewed through the lens of learning in repeated play. The award will help support the further development of mathematical frameworks to extend these results beyond convex optimization and to design efficient algorithms with provable guarantees in non-convex settings. One of the areas of particular interest will be the use of continuous-time analysis in training complex multiplayer problems, to understand when such dynamics lead to stable outcomes and when they elicit chaotic behavior.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.