Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology Seminar Series Spring 2019

Timothy Lillicrap, Google DeepMind

New models and algorithms for addressing limitations in deep reinforcement learning

Abstract

There has been rapid progress in the field of deep reinforcement learning, leading to solutions to difficult control problems such as: playing video games from raw-pixels, controlling high-dimensional motor systems, and winning at the games of Go, Chess and StarCraft. Nevertheless, animal and human brains remain capable of behaviors that outstrip our best artificial agents, particularly in those capacities that require data efficiency, memory, long-term credit assignment, and planning in unknown environments.  I will describe new models and algorithms that work towards solving these limitations.  Several of these new models are inspired by the continued interplay between machine learning and neuroscience, and may offer powerful tools for understanding the brain.