Provably Efficient Exploration in Inverse Constrained Reinforcement Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yue, Bo, Li, Jian, Liu, Guiliang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Yue, Bo
Li, Jian
Liu, Guiliang
author_facet Yue, Bo
Li, Jian
Liu, Guiliang
contents Optimizing objective functions subject to constraints is fundamental in many real-world applications. However, these constraints are often not readily defined and must be inferred from expert agent behaviors, a problem known as Inverse Constraint Inference. Inverse Constrained Reinforcement Learning (ICRL) is a common solver for recovering feasible constraints in complex environments, relying on training samples collected from interactive environments. However, the efficacy and efficiency of current sampling strategies remain unclear. We propose a strategic exploration framework for sampling with guaranteed efficiency to bridge this gap. By defining the feasible cost set for ICRL problems, we analyze how estimation errors in transition dynamics and the expert policy influence the feasibility of inferred constraints. Based on this analysis, we introduce two exploratory algorithms to achieve efficient constraint inference via 1) dynamically reducing the bounded aggregate error of cost estimations or 2) strategically constraining the exploration policy around plausibly optimal ones. Both algorithms are theoretically grounded with tractable sample complexity, and their performance is validated empirically across various environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_15963
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Provably Efficient Exploration in Inverse Constrained Reinforcement Learning
Yue, Bo
Li, Jian
Liu, Guiliang
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Optimizing objective functions subject to constraints is fundamental in many real-world applications. However, these constraints are often not readily defined and must be inferred from expert agent behaviors, a problem known as Inverse Constraint Inference. Inverse Constrained Reinforcement Learning (ICRL) is a common solver for recovering feasible constraints in complex environments, relying on training samples collected from interactive environments. However, the efficacy and efficiency of current sampling strategies remain unclear. We propose a strategic exploration framework for sampling with guaranteed efficiency to bridge this gap. By defining the feasible cost set for ICRL problems, we analyze how estimation errors in transition dynamics and the expert policy influence the feasibility of inferred constraints. Based on this analysis, we introduce two exploratory algorithms to achieve efficient constraint inference via 1) dynamically reducing the bounded aggregate error of cost estimations or 2) strategically constraining the exploration policy around plausibly optimal ones. Both algorithms are theoretically grounded with tractable sample complexity, and their performance is validated empirically across various environments.
title Provably Efficient Exploration in Inverse Constrained Reinforcement Learning
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.15963