Belief-Enriched Pessimistic Q-Learning for Robust Reinforcement Learning Against Adversarial State Perturbations

Conceitos essenciais

In this work, the authors propose a new robust RL algorithm that combines belief state inference and diffusion-based state purification to enhance performance under strong attacks. The core reasoning is to derive a pessimistic policy safeguarding against an agent's uncertainty about true states.

Resumo

The paper introduces a novel approach to reinforcement learning, focusing on combating adversarial state perturbations. It addresses vulnerabilities in RL agents by proposing a robust algorithm that incorporates belief state inference and diffusion-based state purification. The study evaluates the proposed methods in continuous Gridworld and Atari games, showcasing superior performance compared to existing baselines under various attack scenarios.
The research highlights the importance of integrating maximin search and belief approximation for more robust defenses. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms in achieving high robustness against strong attacks while maintaining comparable performance in other scenarios. The study also identifies limitations related to computational complexity and offline training settings, suggesting future research directions.

Estatísticas

Empirical results show that BP-DQN achieves superb performance under all scenarios in the continuous state Gridworld environment.
DP-DQN outperforms all other baselines under strong attacks or large attack budgets in Atari games.
SA-DQN and WocaR-DQN fail to respond effectively to large state perturbations due to loose estimates under large perturbations.
DP-DQN method is agnostic to the perturbation level, unlike SA-DQN and WocaR-DQN which need prior knowledge of the attack budget.

Citações

"The gap between Q˜πn and Q∗ is bounded by limsupn→∞∥Q∗ − Q˜πn∥∞ ≤ 1 + γ (1 − γ)2 ∆." - Theorem 1
"Our method achieves high robustness and significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines under strong attacks." - Conclusion

Principais Insights Extraídos De

Belief-Enriched Pessimistic Q-Learning against Adversarial State Perturbations

by Xiaolin Sun,... às arxiv.org 03-08-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.04050.pdf

Perguntas Mais Profundas

How can the proposed algorithms be adapted for policy-based methods in reinforcement learning

To adapt the proposed algorithms for policy-based methods in reinforcement learning, we can modify the approach to focus on optimizing policies directly rather than value functions. One way to do this is by incorporating the maximin search and belief approximation techniques into policy gradient methods like Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) or Trust Region Policy Optimization (TRPO).
For policy-based methods, we would need to adjust the algorithm to update the policy parameters based on maximizing worst-case performance under state perturbations. This involves modifying the objective function of the policy optimization process to consider not just expected rewards but also robustness against adversarial attacks.
Additionally, integrating belief approximation using recurrent neural networks or diffusion models can help capture uncertainty about true states in a partially observable environment. By updating policies based on these approximated beliefs, we can enhance robustness and improve performance in challenging scenarios.

What are potential strategies to address limitations related to computational complexity in diffusion-based models

Addressing limitations related to computational complexity in diffusion-based models requires strategic approaches:

Model Simplification: Simplifying the architecture of diffusion models by reducing layers or parameters can help mitigate computational complexity while maintaining model effectiveness.

Parallelization: Leveraging parallel computing resources such as GPUs or distributed systems can accelerate training and inference processes for diffusion models, reducing overall computational burden.

Optimization Techniques: Implementing optimization strategies like weight pruning, quantization, or knowledge distillation can optimize model size and speed up computations without compromising performance significantly.

Progressive Learning: Adopting progressive learning techniques where complex diffusion models are trained incrementally with increasing complexity levels can balance computational load with model accuracy.

By implementing these strategies thoughtfully, it's possible to address computational challenges associated with diffusion-based models effectively.

How can offline settings be leveraged to train RL agents directly from possibly poisoned trajectory data

Utilizing offline settings for training RL agents directly from possibly poisoned trajectory data involves several key strategies:

Data Preprocessing: Before training an agent offline, preprocess trajectory data by removing any known instances of poisoning or adversarial manipulation that could negatively impact training quality.

Anomaly Detection: Implement anomaly detection algorithms during data preprocessing stages to identify potentially poisoned samples and exclude them from training datasets.

Adversarial Training Simulation: Simulate potential attack scenarios during offline training sessions by introducing controlled adversarial elements into trajectories and evaluating how well agents perform under such conditions.

Regularization Techniques: Apply regularization techniques during offline training sessions that encourage agents to learn more robust policies resilient against various forms of attacks seen in trajectory data.

By incorporating these strategies into offline settings for RL agent training from possibly poisoned trajectory data, it's possible to enhance agent resilience and improve overall performance when deployed in real-world environments where security threats are prevalent.