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Prediction-Guided Active Experiments

Ruicheng Ao, Hongyu Chen, David Simchi-Levi

arXiv 18 Nov 2024 · Statistics — Machine Learning · 2 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2411.12036 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

In this work, we introduce a new framework for active experimentation, the Prediction-Guided Active Experiment (PGAE), which leverages predictions from an existing machine learning model to guide sampling and experimentation. Specifically, at each time step, an experimental unit is sampled according to a designated sampling distribution, and the actual outcome is observed based on an experimental probability. Otherwise, only a prediction for the outcome is available. We begin by analyzing the non-adaptive case, where full information on the joint distribution of the predictor and the actual outcome is assumed. For this scenario, we derive an optimal experimentation strategy by minimizing the semi-parametric efficiency bound for the class of regular estimators. We then introduce an estimator that meets this efficiency bound, achieving asymptotic optimality. Next, we move to the adaptive case, where the predictor is continuously updated with newly sampled data. We show that the adaptive version of the estimator remains efficient and attains the same semi-parametric bound under certain regularity assumptions. Finally, we validate PGAE's performance through simulations and a semi-synthetic experiment using data from the US Census Bureau. The results underscore the PGAE framework's effectiveness and superiority compared to other existing methods.

Citation extraction

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Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Angelopoulos AN, Bates S, Fannjiang C, Jordan MI, Zrnic T (2023) a) Prediction-powered inference0.81142100%
2Van der Vaart AW (2000) Asymptotic statistics0.81142100%
3Kato M, Oga A, Komatsubara W, Inokuchi R (2024) Active adaptive experimental design for treatment effect estimation with covariate choice0.73732100%
4Kennedy EH (2022) Semiparametric doubly robust targeted double machine learning: a review0.73732100%
5Zrnic T, Candès EJ (2024) a) Active statistical inference0.73732100%
6Chernozhukov V, Chetverikov D, Demirer M, Duflo E, Hansen C, Newey W… (2018) Double/debiased machine learning for treatment and structural parameters0.64422100%
7Hamilton JD (2020) Time series analysis0.51121100%
8Li H, Zhao G, Johari R, Weintraub GY (2022) Interference, bias, and variance in two-sided marketplace experimentation: Guidance for platforms0.51121100%
9Angelopoulos AN, Duchi JC, Zrnic T (2023) b) Ppi++: Efficient prediction-powered inference0.40511100%
10Ao R, Chen H, Simchi-Levi D, Zhu F (2024) Online local false discovery rate control: A resource allocation approach0.40511100%

Showing the top 10 of 48 scored citations.

Cited by, within the corpus

arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1PPI-SVRG: Unifying Prediction-Powered Inference and Variance Reduction for Semi-Supervised Optimization0.40511