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Main Authors: Fayaz-Bakhsh, Mojtaba, Ataee, Danial, Fazli, MohammadAmin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05090
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author Fayaz-Bakhsh, Mojtaba
Ataee, Danial
Fazli, MohammadAmin
author_facet Fayaz-Bakhsh, Mojtaba
Ataee, Danial
Fazli, MohammadAmin
contents Active preference learning offers an efficient approach to modeling preferences, but it is hindered by the cold-start problem, which leads to a marked decline in performance when no initial labeled data are available. While cold-start solutions have been proposed for domains such as vision and text, the cold-start problem in active preference learning remains largely unexplored, underscoring the need for practical, effective methods. Drawing inspiration from established practices in social and economic research, the proposed method initiates learning with a self-supervised phase that employs Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to generate initial pseudo-labels. This process produces a \say{warmed-up} model based solely on the data's intrinsic structure, without requiring expert input. The model is then refined through an active learning loop that strategically queries a simulated noisy oracle for labels. Experiments conducted on various socio-economic datasets, including those related to financial credibility, career success rate, and socio-economic status, consistently show that the PCA-driven approach outperforms standard active learning strategies that start without prior information. This work thus provides a computationally efficient and straightforward solution that effectively addresses the cold-start problem.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_05090
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cold-Start Active Preference Learning in Socio-Economic Domains
Fayaz-Bakhsh, Mojtaba
Ataee, Danial
Fazli, MohammadAmin
Machine Learning
Active preference learning offers an efficient approach to modeling preferences, but it is hindered by the cold-start problem, which leads to a marked decline in performance when no initial labeled data are available. While cold-start solutions have been proposed for domains such as vision and text, the cold-start problem in active preference learning remains largely unexplored, underscoring the need for practical, effective methods. Drawing inspiration from established practices in social and economic research, the proposed method initiates learning with a self-supervised phase that employs Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to generate initial pseudo-labels. This process produces a \say{warmed-up} model based solely on the data's intrinsic structure, without requiring expert input. The model is then refined through an active learning loop that strategically queries a simulated noisy oracle for labels. Experiments conducted on various socio-economic datasets, including those related to financial credibility, career success rate, and socio-economic status, consistently show that the PCA-driven approach outperforms standard active learning strategies that start without prior information. This work thus provides a computationally efficient and straightforward solution that effectively addresses the cold-start problem.
title Cold-Start Active Preference Learning in Socio-Economic Domains
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05090