CFP special session on "Learning with confidence"

[Dario Malchiodi]

Many apologizes for cross-posting


SCI2002
Sixth World Multiconference
on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics
July 14-18, 2002 ~ Orlando, Florida

Special Session: Learning with confidence
http://laren.dsi.unimi.it/SCI2002/

Call for papers

Leaving the asymptotic learnability results of early sixties, for 
instance from E. Gold or A. Gill, modern theories consider learning as a 
statistical operation, possibly based on highly structured sample 
values, possibly done in a very poor probabilistic framework. In this 
scenario the target of our learning task is generally a function that is 
a random object, and we want to frame its variability within a set of 
possible realizations with satisfactory confidence. Under a 
computational perspective this problem reads in terms of sample 
complexity for a given accuracy (a relevant measure of the width of the 
realization set) and In the aim of locating the learning task in the one 
or other side of the exponential complexity divide, former results came 
from rather elementary probabilistic modeling based on binomial 
experiments and sharp bounds such as those coming from Chernoff 
inequality. Subsequent comparisons of the algorithms efficiency on a 
same learning task lead to the employment of more sophisticated 
statistical tools to identify very accurate confidence intervals,  in 
relation with both sample properties - such as their distribution law or 
error rate - and structural constraints - such as the allowed complexity 
of the statistics. These theoretical improvements allow, for instance, 
to distinguish between different degrees of the
polynomials describing  sample complexities of algorithms for learning a 
monotone DNF under proper probability hypotheses on the example space. 
Many efforts have also been devoted to the confidence intervals for the 
shape of continuous functions, with results concerning trained neural 
networks as well.The session aims at collecting contributions by 
researchers involved in these topics. The special perspective is the 
exploitation of relations between the randomness of the training 
examples and their mutual dependence exactly denoted by the function we 
want discovering from them.

Submissions

A 2000 characters abstract should be submitted in electronic format 
(preferably in PDF, but PostScript or MS Word are also acceptable 
formats) to apolloni at dsi.unimi.it within February 23, 2002, using as
subject-line "SCI2002 Special session submission". After notification of 
acceptance the authors will have to submit within April 5, 2002 an 
extended abstract not exceeding the length of six pages. Please do not
send your papers to SCI2002 secretariat. All papers must be presented by 
one of the authors, who must pay the registration fee. For more 
information about the general conference please see
http://www.iiisci.org/sci2002/.

Session Chair
Bruno Apolloni
Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Informazione
Universita' degli Studi di Milano
Via Complico 39/41, I-20153 Milano - Italy
Phone: +39 02 503 16284 Fax: +39 02 503 16288
E-mail: apolloni at dsi.unimi.it
confidence.