Online AutoML: an adaptive AutoML framework for online learning

Abstract

Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) has been used successfully in settings where the learning task is assumed to be static. In many real-world scenarios, however, the data distribution will evolve over time, and it is yet to be shown whether AutoML techniques can effectively design online pipelines in dynamic environments. This study aims to automate pipeline design for online learning while continuously adapting to data drift. For this purpose, we design an adaptive Online Automated Machine Learning (OAML) system, searching the complete pipeline configuration space of online learners, including preprocessing algorithms and ensembling techniques. This system combines the inherent adaptation capabilities of online learners with fast automated pipeline (re)optimization. Focusing on optimization techniques that can adapt to evolving objectives, we evaluate asynchronous genetic programming and asynchronous successive halving to optimize these pipelines continually. We experiment on real and artificial data streams with varying types of concept drift to test the performance and adaptation capabilities of the proposed system. The results confirm the utility of OAML over popular online learning algorithms and underscore the benefits of continuous pipeline redesign in the presence of data drift.

Advanced Genetic Programming vs. State-of-the-Art AutoML in Imbalanced Binary Classification

“…The term AutoML stands for the automated application of ML. AutoML has recently gained much popularity [17][18][19] because it allows the automation of certain parts of ML, thus eliminating the need for a human expert for those specific operations. However, human involvement is still required to a certain extent in order to successfully solve realworld tasks using AutoML [16].…”