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Safe Learning Under Irreversible Dynamics via Asking for Help

arxiv.org/abs/2502.14043

Updated 50 min ago · first seen 11 Sept 2026

paper_01M294GPGZAFH1P2T0JFB39XER

Published
11 Sept 2026
T1 · 50 min ago
arXiv
2502.14043
T1 · 50 min ago
Category
cs.LG
T1 · 50 min ago

Abstract

-cross Abstract: Most learning algorithms with formal regret guarantees essentially rely on trying all possible behaviors, which is problematic when some errors cannot be recovered from. Instead, we allow the learning agent to ask for help from a mentor and to transfer knowledge between similar states. We show that this combination enables the agent to learn both safely and effectively. Under standard online learning assumptions, we provide an algorithm whose regret and number of mentor queries are both sublinear in the time horizon for Markov decision processes with irreversible dynamics and infinite state spaces. Our proof involves a sequence of three reductions, making our result more general than a single algorithm. Conceptually, our result may be the first formal proof that it is possible for an agent to obtain high reward while becoming self-sufficient in an unknown, unbounded, and high-stakes environment without resets.

Authors 4

Benjamin Plaut, Juan Li\'evano-Karim, Hanlin Zhu, Stuart Russell

Specification

Official page

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

Arxiv announce type
replace

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

arXiv id
2502.14043

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

Categories
cs.LG, cs.AI

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

PDF

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

Primary category
cs.LG

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

Published
11 Sept 2026

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 50 min agohigh

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Provenance

Attributed facts

9

Source tiers

T19

Freshest observation

50 min ago

Conflicts

None