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Poster
Hierarchical Implicit Models and Likelihood-Free Variational Inference
Dustin Tran · Rajesh Ranganath · David Blei

Wed Dec 06 06:30 PM -- 10:30 PM (PST) @ Pacific Ballroom #179
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Implicit probabilistic models are a flexible class of models defined by a simulation process for data. They form the basis for models which encompass our understanding of the physical word. Despite this fundamental nature, the use of implicit models remains limited due to challenge in positing complex latent structure in them, and the ability to inference in such models with large data sets. In this paper, we first introduce the hierarchical implicit models (HIMs). HIMs combine the idea of implicit densities with hierarchical Bayesian modeling thereby defining models via simulators of data with rich hidden structure. Next, we develop likelihood-free variational inference (LFVI), a scalable variational inference algorithm for HIMs. Key to LFVI is specifying a variational family that is also implicit. This matches the model's flexibility and allows for accurate approximation of the posterior. We demonstrate diverse applications: a large-scale physical simulator for predator-prey populations in ecology; a Bayesian generative adversarial network for discrete data; and a deep implicit model for symbol generation.

Keywords: Variational Inference
[ Paper] 

Author Information

Dustin Tran (Columbia University & OpenAI)
Rajesh Ranganath (Princeton University)

Rajesh Ranganath is a PhD candidate in computer science at Princeton University. His research interests include approximate inference, model checking, Bayesian nonparametrics, and machine learning for healthcare. Rajesh has made several advances in variational methods, especially in popularising black-box variational inference methods that automate the process of inference by making variational inference easier to use while providing more scalable, and accurate posterior approximations. Rajesh works in SLAP group with David Blei. Before starting his PhD, Rajesh worked as a software engineer for AMA Capital Management. He obtained his BS and MS from Stanford University with Andrew Ng and Dan Jurafsky. Rajesh has won several awards and fellowships including the NDSEG graduate fellowship and the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, given to the top four doctoral students at Princeton University.

David Blei (Columbia University)

David Blei is a Professor of Statistics and Computer Science at Columbia University, and a member of the Columbia Data Science Institute. His research is in statistical machine learning, involving probabilistic topic models, Bayesian nonparametric methods, and approximate posterior inference algorithms for massive data. He works on a variety of applications, including text, images, music, social networks, user behavior, and scientific data. David has received several awards for his research, including a Sloan Fellowship (2010), Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2011), Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2011), Blavatnik Faculty Award (2013), and ACM-Infosys Foundation Award (2013). He is a fellow of the ACM.

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