Title: Backprop-Q: Generalized Backpropagation for Stochastic Computation Graphs,
Abstract: In real-world scenarios, it is appealing to learn a model carrying out
stochastic operations internally, known as stochastic computation graphs
(SCGs), rather than learning a deterministic mapping. However, standard
backpropagation is not applicable to SCGs. We attempt to address this issue
from the angle of cost propagation, with local surrogate costs, called
Q-functions, constructed and learned for each stochastic node in an SCG. Then,
the SCG can be trained based on these surrogate costs using standard
backpropagation. We propose the entire framework as a solution to generalize
backpropagation for SCGs, which resembles an actor-critic architecture but
based on a graph. For broad applicability, we study a variety of SCG structures
from one cost to multiple costs. We utilize recent advances in reinforcement
learning (RL) and variational Bayes (VB), such as off-policy critic learning
and unbiased-and-low-variance gradient estimation, and review them in the
context of SCGs. The generalized backpropagation extends transported learning
signals beyond gradients between stochastic nodes while preserving the benefit
of backpropagating gradients through deterministic nodes. Experimental
suggestions and concerns are listed to help design and test any specific model
using this framework.