{"title":"Computationally efficient variational-like approximations of possibilistic inferential models","authors":"Leonardo Cella , Ryan Martin","doi":"10.1016/j.ijar.2025.109506","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Inferential models (IMs) offer provably reliable, data-driven, possibilistic statistical inference. But despite the IM framework's theoretical and foundational advantages, efficient computation is a challenge. This paper presents a simple yet powerful numerical strategy for approximating the IM's possibility contour, or at least its <em>α</em>-cut for a specified <span><math><mi>α</mi><mo>∈</mo><mo>(</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>,</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></math></span>. Our proposal starts with the specification of a parametric family that, in a certain sense, approximately covers the credal set associated with the IM's possibility measure. Akin to variational inference, we then propose to tune the parameters of that parametric family so that its <span><math><mn>100</mn><mo>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>−</mo><mi>α</mi><mo>)</mo><mtext>%</mtext></math></span> credible set roughly matches the IM contour's <em>α</em>-cut. This parametric <em>α</em>-cut matching strategy implies a full approximation to the IM's possibility contour at a fraction of the computational cost associated with previous strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13842,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Approximate Reasoning","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 109506"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Approximate Reasoning","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0888613X25001471","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Inferential models (IMs) offer provably reliable, data-driven, possibilistic statistical inference. But despite the IM framework's theoretical and foundational advantages, efficient computation is a challenge. This paper presents a simple yet powerful numerical strategy for approximating the IM's possibility contour, or at least its α-cut for a specified . Our proposal starts with the specification of a parametric family that, in a certain sense, approximately covers the credal set associated with the IM's possibility measure. Akin to variational inference, we then propose to tune the parameters of that parametric family so that its credible set roughly matches the IM contour's α-cut. This parametric α-cut matching strategy implies a full approximation to the IM's possibility contour at a fraction of the computational cost associated with previous strategies.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Approximate Reasoning is intended to serve as a forum for the treatment of imprecision and uncertainty in Artificial and Computational Intelligence, covering both the foundations of uncertainty theories, and the design of intelligent systems for scientific and engineering applications. It publishes high-quality research papers describing theoretical developments or innovative applications, as well as review articles on topics of general interest.
Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, probabilistic reasoning and Bayesian networks, imprecise probabilities, random sets, belief functions (Dempster-Shafer theory), possibility theory, fuzzy sets, rough sets, decision theory, non-additive measures and integrals, qualitative reasoning about uncertainty, comparative probability orderings, game-theoretic probability, default reasoning, nonstandard logics, argumentation systems, inconsistency tolerant reasoning, elicitation techniques, philosophical foundations and psychological models of uncertain reasoning.
Domains of application for uncertain reasoning systems include risk analysis and assessment, information retrieval and database design, information fusion, machine learning, data and web mining, computer vision, image and signal processing, intelligent data analysis, statistics, multi-agent systems, etc.