arXiv:2510.16175v2 Announce Type: replace 
Abstract: The last decade has seen an upswing in interest and adoption of reinforcement learning (RL) techniques, in large part due to its demonstrated capabilities at performing certain tasks at "super-human levels". This has incentivized the community to prioritize research that demonstrates RL agent performance, often at the expense of research aimed at understanding their learning dynamics. Performance-focused research runs the risk of overfitting on academic benchmarks -- thereby rendering them less useful -- which can make it difficult to transfer proposed techniques to novel problems. Further, it implicitly diminishes work that does not push the performance-frontier, but aims at improving our understanding of these techniques. This paper argues two points: (i) RL research should stop focusing solely on demonstrating agent capabilities, and focus more on advancing the science and understanding of reinforcement learning; and (ii) we need to be more precise on how our benchmarks map to the underlying mathematical formalisms. We use the popular Arcade Learning Environment (ALE; Bellemare et al., 2013) as an example of a benchmark that, despite being increasingly considered "saturated", can be effectively used for developing this understanding, and facilitating the deployment of RL techniques in impactful real-world problems.

يتناول المقال الاهتمام المتزايد بتعلم التعزيز (RL) خلال العقد الماضي، مع تسليط الضوء على أدائه المذهل في مهام مختلفة. ومع ذلك، يثير مخاوف بشأن التركيز على مقاييس الأداء، مما قد يطغى على أهمية فهم الديناميات التعليمية الأساسية لوكلاء RL. وهذا مهم لأن نهجًا متوازنًا يمكن أن يؤدي إلى أنظمة RL أكثر قوة وموثوقية في المستقبل.

El artículo discute el creciente interés en el aprendizaje por refuerzo (RL) en la última década, destacando su impresionante rendimiento en diversas tareas. Sin embargo, plantea preocupaciones sobre el enfoque en las métricas de rendimiento, que puede eclipsar la importancia de comprender las dinámicas de aprendizaje subyacentes de los agentes de RL. Esto es significativo, ya que un enfoque equilibrado podría llevar a sistemas de RL más robustos y confiables en el futuro.

L'article aborde l'intérêt croissant pour l'apprentissage par renforcement (RL) au cours de la dernière décennie, soulignant ses performances impressionnantes dans diverses tâches. Cependant, il soulève des préoccupations concernant l'accent mis sur les indicateurs de performance, qui pourrait éclipser l'importance de comprendre les dynamiques d'apprentissage sous-jacentes des agents RL. Cela est significatif car une approche équilibrée pourrait conduire à des systèmes RL plus robustes et fiables à l'avenir.

The article discusses the growing interest in reinforcement learning (RL) over the past decade, highlighting its impressive performance in various tasks. However, it raises concerns about the focus on performance metrics, which may overshadow the importance of understanding the underlying learning dynamics of RL agents. This is significant as a balanced approach could lead to more robust and reliable RL systems in the future.

The Formalism-Implementation Gap in Reinforcement Learning Research

arXiv:2601.08247v1 Announce Type: new 
Abstract: Financial markets are influenced by human behavior that deviates from rationality due to cognitive biases. Traditional reinforcement learning (RL) models for financial decision-making assume rational agents, potentially overlooking the impact of psychological factors. This study integrates cognitive biases into RL frameworks for financial trading, hypothesizing that such models can exhibit human-like trading behavior and achieve better risk-adjusted returns than standard RL agents. We introduce biases, such as overconfidence and loss aversion, into reward structures and decision-making processes and evaluate their performance in simulated and real-world trading environments. Despite its inconclusive or negative results, this study provides insights into the challenges of incorporating human-like biases into RL, offering valuable lessons for developing robust financial AI systems.

دراسة حديثة نُشرت على arXiv تستكشف دمج التحيزات المعرفية في أطر التعلم المعزز (RL) لاتخاذ القرارات المالية، مشددةً على كيفية تأثير سلوك الإنسان المتأثر بتحيزات مثل الثقة الزائدة والقلق من الخسارة على استراتيجيات التداول. تهدف الأبحاث إلى إثبات أن نماذج التعلم المعزز التي تتضمن هذه التحيزات يمكن أن تحقق عوائد معدلة للمخاطر أفضل مقارنة بالنماذج التقليدية التي تفترض العقلانية.

Un estudio reciente publicado en arXiv explora la integración de sesgos cognitivos en los marcos de aprendizaje por refuerzo (RL) para la toma de decisiones financieras, destacando cómo el comportamiento humano influenciado por sesgos como la sobreconfianza y la aversión a la pérdida puede afectar las estrategias de trading. La investigación busca demostrar que los modelos de RL que incorporan estos sesgos pueden lograr mejores rendimientos ajustados al riesgo en comparación con los modelos tradicionales que asumen racionalidad.

Une étude récente publiée sur arXiv examine l'intégration des biais cognitifs dans les cadres d'apprentissage par renforcement (RL) pour la prise de décision financière, soulignant comment le comportement humain influencé par des biais tels que la surconfiance et l'aversion à la perte peut affecter les stratégies de trading. La recherche vise à démontrer que les modèles RL intégrant ces biais peuvent obtenir de meilleurs rendements ajustés au risque par rapport aux modèles traditionnels qui supposent la rationalité.

A recent study published on arXiv explores the integration of cognitive biases into reinforcement learning (RL) frameworks for financial decision-making, highlighting how human behavior influenced by biases like overconfidence and loss aversion can affect trading strategies. The research aims to demonstrate that RL models incorporating these biases can achieve better risk-adjusted returns compared to traditional models that assume rationality.

Incorporating Cognitive Biases into Reinforcement Learning for Financial Decision-Making

arXiv:2510.21060v2 Announce Type: replace 
Abstract: Policy optimization (PO) is a cornerstone of modern reinforcement learning (RL), with diverse applications spanning robotics, healthcare, and large language model training. The increasing deployment of PO in sensitive domains, however, raises significant privacy concerns. In this paper, we initiate a theoretical study of differentially private policy optimization, focusing explicitly on its sample complexity. We first formalize an appropriate definition of differential privacy (DP) tailored to PO, addressing the inherent challenges arising from on-policy learning dynamics and the subtlety involved in defining the unit of privacy. We then systematically analyze the sample complexity of widely-used PO algorithms, including policy gradient (PG), natural policy gradient (NPG) and more, under DP constraints and various settings, via a unified framework. Our theoretical results demonstrate that privacy costs can often manifest as lower-order terms in the sample complexity, while also highlighting subtle yet important observations in private PO settings. These offer valuable practical insights for privacy-preserving PO algorithms.

تم نشر دراسة حديثة حول تحسين السياسات بشكل مختلف (DPPO) تركز على تعقيد العينة في تحسين السياسات (PO) في التعلم المعزز (RL). تتناول هذه الدراسة المخاوف المتعلقة بالخصوصية في التطبيقات الحساسة مثل الروبوتات والرعاية الصحية من خلال صياغة تعريف للخصوصية المختلفة يتناسب مع PO وتحليل تعقيد العينة لعدة خوارزميات PO تحت قيود DP.

Se ha publicado un estudio reciente sobre la optimización de políticas diferencialmente privadas (DPPO), centrado en la complejidad de muestra de la optimización de políticas (PO) en el aprendizaje por refuerzo (RL). Esta investigación aborda las preocupaciones de privacidad en aplicaciones sensibles como la robótica y la atención médica al formalizar una definición de privacidad diferencial adaptada a la PO y analizar la complejidad de muestra de varios algoritmos de PO bajo restricciones de DP.

Une étude récente sur l'optimisation de politiques différemment privées (DPPO) a été publiée, se concentrant sur la complexité d'échantillonnage de l'optimisation de politiques (PO) dans l'apprentissage par renforcement (RL). Cette recherche aborde les préoccupations en matière de confidentialité dans des applications sensibles telles que la robotique et les soins de santé en formalisant une définition de la confidentialité différentielle adaptée à la PO et en analysant la complexité d'échantillonnage de divers algorithmes de PO sous des contraintes de DP.

A recent study on differentially private policy optimization (DPPO) has been published, focusing on the sample complexity of policy optimization (PO) in reinforcement learning (RL). This research addresses privacy concerns in sensitive applications such as robotics and healthcare by formalizing a definition of differential privacy tailored to PO and analyzing the sample complexity of various PO algorithms under DP constraints.

On the Sample Complexity of Differentially Private Policy Optimization

One More Thing in AI – Your Shortcut to AI Mastery

The Formalism-Implementation Gap in Reinforcement Learning Research

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