Efficient Online Conformal Selection with Limited Feedback
We address the problem of conformal selection, where an agent must select a low-cost subset of options to ensure that at least one "success" is identified at a pre-specified target rate $φ$. While traditional online conformal prediction focuses on maintaining validity for the observed sequence, minimizing the resource cost (efficiency) of such selections, especially under limited feedback, remains a significant challenge. In this work, we consider highly restricted "bandit" feedback, where the agent only observes feedback about the subset it selected, and not the true label, point, or outcomes of unchosen options. We demonstrate that the simple Adaptive Conformal Inference (ACI) update rule, when applied to the appropriate control parameter or dual variable and paired with explicit boundary actions, is both adversarially valid, ensuring the success target is met on average for any input sequence (and hence under distribution shifts), and stochastically efficient, achieving sublinear efficiency regret for i.i.d. inputs against an optimal stochastic benchmark. The key algorithmic idea is to avoid the projected updates standard in constrained bandits: projections break the exact telescoping identity behind ACI validity, whereas boundary actions stabilize the unprojected update through actual decisions. We show these guarantees under canonical models capturing bandit feedback via a unified algorithmic technique and Lyapunov-based analysis. Our approach handles more general settings than prior work, while requiring significantly less feedback, and provides a new theoretical bridge between efficient online learning with limited feedback and distribution-free uncertainty quantification.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Similar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
Feedback-Enhanced Online Multiple Testing with Applications to Conformal Selection
We study online multiple testing with feedback, where decisions are made sequentially and the true state of the hypothesis is revealed after the decision has been made, either instantly or with a delay. We propose GAIF, …
Online Selective Conformal Prediction with Asymmetric Rules: A Permutation Test Approach
Selective conformal prediction aims to construct prediction sets with valid coverage for a test unit conditional on it being selected by a data-driven mechanism. While existing methods in the offline setting handle any s…
Drug DiscoveryOnline Conformal Selection with Accept-to-Reject Changes
Selecting a subset of promising candidates from a large pool is crucial across various scientific and real-world applications. Conformal selection offers a distribution-free and model-agnostic framework for candidate sel…
Drug DiscoveryMirror Online Conformal Prediction with Intermittent Feedback
Online conformal prediction enables the runtime calibration of a pre-trained artificial intelligence model using feedback on its performance. Calibration is achieved through set predictions that are updated via online ru…
Conformal PredictionPredictionOnline Conformal Prediction with Adversarial Semi-bandit Feedback via Regret Minimization
Uncertainty quantification is crucial in safety-critical systems, where decisions must be made under uncertainty. In particular, we consider the problem of online uncertainty quantification, where data points arrive sequ…