Determinantal Point Processes (DPPs) are a widely used probabilistic model for negatively correlated sets. DPPs have been successfully employed in Machine Learning applications to select a diverse, yet representative subset of data. In these applications, the parameters of the DPP need to be fitted to match the data; typically, we ... more >>>

We consider several closely related variants of PAC-learning in which false-positive and false-negative errors are treated differently. In these models we seek to guarantee a given, low rate of false-positive errors and as few false-negative errors as possible given that we meet the false-positive constraint. Bshouty and Burroughs first observed ... more >>>

$\mathrm{AC}^{0} \circ \mathrm{MOD}_2$ circuits are $\mathrm{AC}^{0}$ circuits augmented with a layer of parity gates just above the input layer. We study the $\mathrm{AC}^{0} \circ \mathrm{MOD}_2$ circuit lower bound for computing the Boolean Inner Product functions. Recent works by Servedio and Viola (ECCC TR12-144) and Akavia et al. (ITCS 2014) have ... more >>>

We consider the proof search ("automatizability") problem for integrated learning and reasoning, a problem modeling certain kinds of data mining and common sense reasoning (Juba, 2013a). In such a problem, the approximate validity (i.e., under Valiant’s PAC-Semantics (Valiant, 2000)) of an input query formula over a background probability distribution is ... more >>>

We consider a model of teaching in which the learners are consistent and have bounded state, but are otherwise arbitrary. The teacher is non-interactive and ``massively open'': the teacher broadcasts a sequence of examples of an arbitrary target concept, intended for every possible on-line learning algorithm to learn from. We ... more >>>

In previous works, Juba and Sudan (STOC 2008) and Goldreich, Juba and Sudan (ECCC TR09-075) considered the idea of "semantic communication", wherein two players, a user and a server, attempt to communicate with each other without any prior common language (or communication protocol). They showed that if communication was goal-oriented ... more >>>

We put forward a general theory of goal-oriented communication, where communication is not an end in itself, but rather a means to achieving some goals of the communicating parties. The goals can vary from setting to setting, and we provide a general framework for describing any such goal. In this ... more >>>

We continue the investigation of the task of meaningful communication among intelligent entities (players, agents) without any prior common language. Our generic thesis is that such communication is feasible provided the goals of the communicating players are verifiable and compatible. In a previous work we gave supporting evidence for this ... more >>>

Is it possible for two intelligent beings to communicate meaningfully, without any common language or background? This question has interest on its own, but is especially relevant in the context of modern computational infrastructures where an increase in the diversity of computers is making the task of inter-computer interaction increasingly ... more >>>