Behaviour Policy Optimization: Provably Lower Variance Return Estimates for Off-Policy Reinforcement Learning

The article presents Thinker, a hierarchical thinking model designed to enhance the reasoning capabilities of large language models (LLMs) through multi-turn interactions. Unlike previous methods that relied on end-to-end reinforcement learning without supervision, Thinker allows for a more structured reasoning process by breaking down complex problems into manageable sub-problems. Each sub-problem is represented in both natural language and logical functions, improving the coherence and rigor of the reasoning process.

The paper titled 'Potent but Stealthy: Rethink Profile Pollution against Sequential Recommendation via Bi-level Constrained Reinforcement Paradigm' addresses vulnerabilities in sequential recommenders, particularly to adversarial attacks. It highlights the Profile Pollution Attack (PPA), which subtly contaminates user interactions to induce mispredictions. The authors propose a new method called CREAT, which combines bi-level optimization with reinforcement learning to enhance the stealthiness and effectiveness of such attacks, overcoming limitations of previous methods.

Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) highlight their potential in automating scientific research ideation. Current methods often produce ideas that do not meet expert standards of novelty, feasibility, and effectiveness. To address these issues, a new framework is proposed that combines Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) and controllable Reinforcement Learning (RL) to enhance the quality of generated research ideas through a two-stage approach.

Mining-Gym is introduced as a configurable, open-source benchmarking environment aimed at optimizing truck dispatch scheduling in mining operations. The dynamic and stochastic nature of mining environments, characterized by uncertainties such as equipment failures and variable haul cycle times, poses challenges to traditional optimization methods. By leveraging Reinforcement Learning (RL), Mining-Gym provides a platform for training, testing, and evaluating RL algorithms, enhancing the efficiency and adaptability of decision-making in mining logistics.

Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have shifted the focus of reasoning as a benchmark for intelligence evaluation. This article critiques the uniform reasoning strategies employed by current LLMs, which often generate lengthy reasoning for simple tasks while struggling with complex ones. It introduces the concept of adaptive reasoning, which allows models to adjust their reasoning efforts based on task difficulty and uncertainty, and outlines three key contributions to understanding this approach.

The paper titled 'DiAReL: Reinforcement Learning with Disturbance Awareness for Robust Sim2Real Policy Transfer in Robot Control' discusses the introduction of a disturbance-augmented Markov decision process (DAMDP) to enhance reinforcement learning in robotic control. It addresses the challenges of sim2real transfer, where models trained in simulation often fail to perform effectively in real-world scenarios due to discrepancies in system dynamics. The proposed approach aims to improve the robustness and stabilization of control responses in robotic systems.