Language Learning from Stochastic Input

Language learning from positive data in the Gold model of inductive inference is investigated in a setting where the data can be modeled as a stochastic process. Specifically, the input strings are assumed to form a sequence of identically distributed, independent random variables, where the distribution depends on the language being presented. A scheme is developed which can be tuned to learn, with probability one, any family of recursive languages, given a recursive enumeration of total indices for the languages in the family and a procedure to compute a lower bound to the probability of occurrence of a given string in a given language. Variations of the scheme work under other assumptions, e.g., if the probabilities of the strings form a monotone sequence with respect to a given enumeration. The learning algorithm is rather simple and appears psychologically plausible. A more sophisticated version of the learner is also developed, based on a probabilistic version of the notion of t...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1992
• Where: COLT
• Authors: Shyam Kapur, Gianfranco Bilardi
• Keywords: COLT 1992, Independent Random Variables, Inductive Inference, Machine Learning, Recursive Enumeration