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Main Authors: Liang, Zujie, Wei, Feng, Xu, Wujiang, Chen, Lin, Qian, Yuxi, Wu, Xinhui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14693
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author Liang, Zujie
Wei, Feng
Xu, Wujiang
Chen, Lin
Qian, Yuxi
Wu, Xinhui
author_facet Liang, Zujie
Wei, Feng
Xu, Wujiang
Chen, Lin
Qian, Yuxi
Wu, Xinhui
contents Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have shown remarkable potential in automating machine learning tasks. However, existing LLM-based agents often struggle with low-diversity and suboptimal code generation. While recent work has introduced Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to address these issues, limitations persist in the quality and diversity of thoughts generated, as well as in the scalar value feedback mechanisms used for node selection. In this study, we introduce Introspective Monte Carlo Tree Search (I-MCTS), a novel approach that iteratively expands tree nodes through an introspective process that meticulously analyzes solutions and results from parent and sibling nodes. This facilitates a continuous refinement of the node in the search tree, thereby enhancing the overall decision-making process. Furthermore, we integrate a Large Language Model (LLM)-based value model to facilitate direct evaluation of each node's solution prior to conducting comprehensive computational rollouts. A hybrid rewarding mechanism is implemented to seamlessly transition the Q-value from LLM-estimated scores to actual performance scores. This allows higher-quality nodes to be traversed earlier. Applied to the various ML tasks, our approach demonstrates a 4% absolute improvement in performance compared to the strong open-source AutoML agents, showcasing its effectiveness in enhancing agentic AutoML systems. Resource available at https://github.com/jokieleung/I-MCTS
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_14693
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle I-MCTS: Enhancing Agentic AutoML via Introspective Monte Carlo Tree Search
Liang, Zujie
Wei, Feng
Xu, Wujiang
Chen, Lin
Qian, Yuxi
Wu, Xinhui
Computation and Language
Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have shown remarkable potential in automating machine learning tasks. However, existing LLM-based agents often struggle with low-diversity and suboptimal code generation. While recent work has introduced Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to address these issues, limitations persist in the quality and diversity of thoughts generated, as well as in the scalar value feedback mechanisms used for node selection. In this study, we introduce Introspective Monte Carlo Tree Search (I-MCTS), a novel approach that iteratively expands tree nodes through an introspective process that meticulously analyzes solutions and results from parent and sibling nodes. This facilitates a continuous refinement of the node in the search tree, thereby enhancing the overall decision-making process. Furthermore, we integrate a Large Language Model (LLM)-based value model to facilitate direct evaluation of each node's solution prior to conducting comprehensive computational rollouts. A hybrid rewarding mechanism is implemented to seamlessly transition the Q-value from LLM-estimated scores to actual performance scores. This allows higher-quality nodes to be traversed earlier. Applied to the various ML tasks, our approach demonstrates a 4% absolute improvement in performance compared to the strong open-source AutoML agents, showcasing its effectiveness in enhancing agentic AutoML systems. Resource available at https://github.com/jokieleung/I-MCTS
title I-MCTS: Enhancing Agentic AutoML via Introspective Monte Carlo Tree Search
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14693