Cost-aware Bayesian Optimization via the Pandora's Box Gittins Index

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Xie, Qian, Astudillo, Raul, Frazier, Peter I., Scully, Ziv, Terenin, Alexander
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Xie, Qian
Astudillo, Raul
Frazier, Peter I.
Scully, Ziv
Terenin, Alexander
author_facet Xie, Qian
Astudillo, Raul
Frazier, Peter I.
Scully, Ziv
Terenin, Alexander
contents Bayesian optimization is a technique for efficiently optimizing unknown functions in a black-box manner. To handle practical settings where gathering data requires use of finite resources, it is desirable to explicitly incorporate function evaluation costs into Bayesian optimization policies. To understand how to do so, we develop a previously-unexplored connection between cost-aware Bayesian optimization and the Pandora's Box problem, a decision problem from economics. The Pandora's Box problem admits a Bayesian-optimal solution based on an expression called the Gittins index, which can be reinterpreted as an acquisition function. We study the use of this acquisition function for cost-aware Bayesian optimization, and demonstrate empirically that it performs well, particularly in medium-high dimensions. We further show that this performance carries over to classical Bayesian optimization without explicit evaluation costs. Our work constitutes a first step towards integrating techniques from Gittins index theory into Bayesian optimization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_20062
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cost-aware Bayesian Optimization via the Pandora's Box Gittins Index
Xie, Qian
Astudillo, Raul
Frazier, Peter I.
Scully, Ziv
Terenin, Alexander
Machine Learning
Bayesian optimization is a technique for efficiently optimizing unknown functions in a black-box manner. To handle practical settings where gathering data requires use of finite resources, it is desirable to explicitly incorporate function evaluation costs into Bayesian optimization policies. To understand how to do so, we develop a previously-unexplored connection between cost-aware Bayesian optimization and the Pandora's Box problem, a decision problem from economics. The Pandora's Box problem admits a Bayesian-optimal solution based on an expression called the Gittins index, which can be reinterpreted as an acquisition function. We study the use of this acquisition function for cost-aware Bayesian optimization, and demonstrate empirically that it performs well, particularly in medium-high dimensions. We further show that this performance carries over to classical Bayesian optimization without explicit evaluation costs. Our work constitutes a first step towards integrating techniques from Gittins index theory into Bayesian optimization.
title Cost-aware Bayesian Optimization via the Pandora's Box Gittins Index
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.20062