Programme
Outline of the programme
- Sunday, Sep. 12, 18:00-21:00: Welcoming reception at the Scandic Marina Hotel.
- Monday, Sep. 13, 08:45-20:00: Technical sessions
- Monday, Sep. 13, 20:00-22:00: Reception offered by the Rector of University of Helsinki
(joint event with the JELIA
conference)
- Tuesday, Sep. 14, 09:00-19:30: Technical sessions.
- Tuesday, Sep. 14, 20:00-23:00: Banquet Dinner at
Restaurant
Katsomo (directions)
- Wednesday, Sep. 15, 09:00-19:00: Technical sessions.
Technical Programme
Monday, September 13
08:45-09:00 Opening of the Workshop
09:00-10:20 Session 1: Inference I
Chair: Jirka Vomlel
10:20-10:50 Coffee
10:50-12:10 Session 2: Inference II
Chair: Silja Renooij
12:10-14:00 Buffet Lunch
14:00-15:20 Session 3: Learning
Chair: Patrik Hoyer
15:20-15:45 Coffee
15:45-17:45 Poster Session I
18:45-19:45 Invited Talk (at the Second festive hall ("Pieni juhlasali") of the University Main Building, joint event with JELIA)
20:00-22:00 Reception offered by the Rector of University of Helsinki ("Lehtisali" in the Main Building)
Tuesday, September 14
09:00-10:20 Session 4: Models and Representation I
Chair: Antonio Salmeron
10:20-10:50 Coffee
10:50-12:10 Session 5: Models and Representation II
Chair: Peter Lucas
12:10-14:00 Buffet Lunch
14:00-15:00 Invited Talk
15:00-15:40 Session 6: Models and Representation III
Chair: Milan Studeny
15:40-16:10 Coffee
16:10-16:50 Session 7: Influence Diagrams
Chair: Concha Bielza
16:50-17:30 Business Meeting
17:45-19:30 Poster Session II
20:00-23:00 Banquet Dinner at
Restaurant
Katsomo (directions)
Wednesday, September 15
09:00-10:20 Session 8: Sensitivity and Uncertainty
Chair: Thomas Nielsen
10:20-10:50 Coffee
10:50-12:10 Session 9: Causality
Chair: John Agosta
12:10-14:00 Buffet Lunch
14:00-15:20 Session 10: Applications
Chair: Pedro Larranaga
15:20-15:45 Coffee
15:45-16:45 Invited Talk
16:45-19:00 Cocktails (Offered by the
Helsinki Graduate School in
Computer Science and Engineering (HeCSE))
17:00-19:00 Poster Session III (jointly with HeCSE poster session)
Invited speakers
- Abstract: I will present in this talk a theory of anytime,
approximate inference, which explains some of the most influential
algorithms in probabilistic reasoning, yet is based on one of the
older ideas in symbolic reasoning: Relaxations. According to this
theory, the fundamental notion of approximation is that of "relaxing"
logical constraints (equalities in particular) for the purpose of
decomposing a problem into smaller pieces that can be solved
independently. A second fundamental notion is that of "compensation",
which calls for imposing weaker and, typically, probabilistic notions
of equality to compensate for the relaxed equalities. The third
fundamental notion of the presented theory is that of "recovery,"
where some of the relaxed equalities are incrementally recovered,
based on an assessment of their impact on improving the quality of
approximations. I will discuss how this theory subsumes one of the
most influential algorithms in probabilistic inference: loopy belief
propagation and some of its generalizations. I will also discuss the
relationship between this theory and current developments in symbolic
reasoning—in particular, how advances in knowledge compilation can
impact the state of the art in approximate (and exact) probabilistic
inference.
- Time: 18:45-19:45, Monday, September 13
- Location: The second festive hall ("Pieni juhlasali") of the main building of
University of Helsinki
(a joint event with the JELIA conference).
- Abstract: Biologists have long sought to use the information in
DNA and protein sequences to infer evolutionary relationships among
groups of organisms, and usually depict them either as two-dimensional
bifurcating trees or as networks. The concept of showing the
relationships among organisms as trees was famously demonstrated by
Darwin, who included an evolutionary tree as the only figure in "On
the Origin of Species...". Inferring "phylogenetic" trees is made
possible by the accumulation of mutations in DNA as it is
copied. However, many other things follow a similar process of copying
with the incorporation of changes, and the methods used for inferring
phylogenetic trees might, in principle, be applied elsewhere. I shall
describe studies applying phylogenetic methods to topics as diverse as
manuscript versions of texts, languages, musical instruments,
commercial organisations and Persian carpets.
- Time: 14:00-15:00, Tuesday, September 14.
- Location: Marina Congress Center
- Abstract: Probabilistic Graphical Models play a crucial role in Microsoft's online services. In this talk, I will describe three powerful applications of graphical model inference in practice.
- TrueSkill is Xbox Live's Ranking and Matchmaking system and ensures that gamers online have balanced and exciting matches with equally skilled opponents.
- AdPredictor is the system that estimates click-through rates (CTR) for ad selection and pricing within Microsoft's search engine Bing.
- Matchbox is a large scale Bayesian recommender system that combines
aspects of collaborative filtering and content-based recommendation. It
is currently being used for tweet recommendation within
projectemporia.com.
All three systems have in common that they are based on factor graph
models and approximate Bayesian inference. They operate at a very large
scale involving millions of gamers, billions of ad impressions, and
millions of tweets, respectively. I will discuss the underlying
graphical models and inference algorithms as well as
application-specific insights and findings. Time permitting, I will show
the three systems in action. This is based on joint work with Ralf
Herbrich, David Stern, Thomas Borchert, Tom Minka, and Joaquin Quiñonero
Candela.
- Time: 15:45-16:45, Wednesday, September 15.
- Location: Marina Congress Center