Amir-massoud Farahmand
@sologen.bsky.social
Research Goal: Understanding the computational and statistical principles required to design AI/RL agents.
Associate Professor at Polytechnique Montréal and Mila. 🇨🇦
academic.sologen.net
Associate Professor at Polytechnique Montréal and Mila. 🇨🇦
academic.sologen.net
What are you favourite Imitation Learning and Inverse Reinforcement Learning papers?
What are the essential papers?
It doesn't matter much whether they are new or old, but I prefer a conceptually elegant and mathematically solid work.
What are the essential papers?
It doesn't matter much whether they are new or old, but I prefer a conceptually elegant and mathematically solid work.
December 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
What are you favourite Imitation Learning and Inverse Reinforcement Learning papers?
What are the essential papers?
It doesn't matter much whether they are new or old, but I prefer a conceptually elegant and mathematically solid work.
What are the essential papers?
It doesn't matter much whether they are new or old, but I prefer a conceptually elegant and mathematically solid work.
"No agent lives in a vacuum; it must interact with other agents to achieve its goals. Reinforcement learning is a promising technique for creating agents that co-exist, but the mathematical framework that justifies it is inappropriate for multi-agent environments.
December 12, 2025 at 3:18 AM
"No agent lives in a vacuum; it must interact with other agents to achieve its goals. Reinforcement learning is a promising technique for creating agents that co-exist, but the mathematical framework that justifies it is inappropriate for multi-agent environments.
Observation: Using ChatGPT to do homework assignments shows off when you do the Final Exam without ChatGPT!
December 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Observation: Using ChatGPT to do homework assignments shows off when you do the Final Exam without ChatGPT!
J. M. Coetzee: And for whom, anyway, do we do the things that lead to Nobel Prizes if not for our mothers?
"Mommy, Mommy, I won a prize!"
"That’s wonderful, my dear. Now eat your carrots before they get cold."
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/liter...
"Mommy, Mommy, I won a prize!"
"That’s wonderful, my dear. Now eat your carrots before they get cold."
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/liter...
Nobel Prize in Literature 2003
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2003 was awarded to John M. Coetzee "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider"
www.nobelprize.org
December 8, 2025 at 1:38 AM
J. M. Coetzee: And for whom, anyway, do we do the things that lead to Nobel Prizes if not for our mothers?
"Mommy, Mommy, I won a prize!"
"That’s wonderful, my dear. Now eat your carrots before they get cold."
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/liter...
"Mommy, Mommy, I won a prize!"
"That’s wonderful, my dear. Now eat your carrots before they get cold."
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/liter...
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
6 décembre 2025 – 36 ans après – Souvenir et recueillement
1/2 Nous continuons à nous souvenir des treize étudiantes et d'une membre du personnel de Polytechnique ayant perdu la vie le 6 décembre 1989 et des personnes qui en sont restées meurtries.
polymtl.ca/6decembre
1/2 Nous continuons à nous souvenir des treize étudiantes et d'une membre du personnel de Polytechnique ayant perdu la vie le 6 décembre 1989 et des personnes qui en sont restées meurtries.
polymtl.ca/6decembre
December 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM
6 décembre 2025 – 36 ans après – Souvenir et recueillement
1/2 Nous continuons à nous souvenir des treize étudiantes et d'une membre du personnel de Polytechnique ayant perdu la vie le 6 décembre 1989 et des personnes qui en sont restées meurtries.
polymtl.ca/6decembre
1/2 Nous continuons à nous souvenir des treize étudiantes et d'une membre du personnel de Polytechnique ayant perdu la vie le 6 décembre 1989 et des personnes qui en sont restées meurtries.
polymtl.ca/6decembre
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
🥁 Announcing the 2025 TMLR Outstanding Certification! The committee decided upon 1 recipient and 3 finalists. Read on to learn more!
Committee: Pablo Samuel Castro, Pin-Yu Chen, Vincent Dumoulin, Amir massoud Farahmand, Andreas Kirsch, Jasper Lee, Jeffrey Pennington, Colin Raffel, Chang Xu 1/n
Committee: Pablo Samuel Castro, Pin-Yu Chen, Vincent Dumoulin, Amir massoud Farahmand, Andreas Kirsch, Jasper Lee, Jeffrey Pennington, Colin Raffel, Chang Xu 1/n
December 1, 2025 at 8:20 PM
🥁 Announcing the 2025 TMLR Outstanding Certification! The committee decided upon 1 recipient and 3 finalists. Read on to learn more!
Committee: Pablo Samuel Castro, Pin-Yu Chen, Vincent Dumoulin, Amir massoud Farahmand, Andreas Kirsch, Jasper Lee, Jeffrey Pennington, Colin Raffel, Chang Xu 1/n
Committee: Pablo Samuel Castro, Pin-Yu Chen, Vincent Dumoulin, Amir massoud Farahmand, Andreas Kirsch, Jasper Lee, Jeffrey Pennington, Colin Raffel, Chang Xu 1/n
If you are into Wittgenstein with a dose of QM, this might be interesting: Tractatus Quanticum
[Spoiler] "What we do not have information about, we must pass over in silence."
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27289/1/main...
P.S: I haven't read it closely.
[Spoiler] "What we do not have information about, we must pass over in silence."
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27289/1/main...
P.S: I haven't read it closely.
philsci-archive.pitt.edu
November 29, 2025 at 8:56 PM
If you are into Wittgenstein with a dose of QM, this might be interesting: Tractatus Quanticum
[Spoiler] "What we do not have information about, we must pass over in silence."
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27289/1/main...
P.S: I haven't read it closely.
[Spoiler] "What we do not have information about, we must pass over in silence."
philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27289/1/main...
P.S: I haven't read it closely.
I agree!
My presentations have real photos (either mine or credited appropriately), simple illustrations, and a watercolour-painted robot, made by a real artist @fvreilly.bsky.social .
My presentations have real photos (either mine or credited appropriately), simple illustrations, and a watercolour-painted robot, made by a real artist @fvreilly.bsky.social .
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I agree!
My presentations have real photos (either mine or credited appropriately), simple illustrations, and a watercolour-painted robot, made by a real artist @fvreilly.bsky.social .
My presentations have real photos (either mine or credited appropriately), simple illustrations, and a watercolour-painted robot, made by a real artist @fvreilly.bsky.social .
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
I'm looking for graduate students to join my group in fall 2026. We work at the intersection of Computer Vision, Deep Learning, and Robotics.
The goal of our work is to create and understand organic 🍀 simulation systems, i.e., controllable data-curation engines built from real-world data. 1/n
The goal of our work is to create and understand organic 🍀 simulation systems, i.e., controllable data-curation engines built from real-world data. 1/n
November 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
I'm looking for graduate students to join my group in fall 2026. We work at the intersection of Computer Vision, Deep Learning, and Robotics.
The goal of our work is to create and understand organic 🍀 simulation systems, i.e., controllable data-curation engines built from real-world data. 1/n
The goal of our work is to create and understand organic 🍀 simulation systems, i.e., controllable data-curation engines built from real-world data. 1/n
This 1978 short video from Arthur C. Clarke is interesting. He talks about computers that learn, the possibility of them outpacing their creators (aka singularity), and touches upon the job market and the the purpose of life in light of that possibility.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9DF...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9DF...
This Sci-Fi Author Predicted a Computer-Dominated Future in the ’70s | NOVA | PBS
YouTube video by NOVA PBS Official
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:45 AM
This 1978 short video from Arthur C. Clarke is interesting. He talks about computers that learn, the possibility of them outpacing their creators (aka singularity), and touches upon the job market and the the purpose of life in light of that possibility.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9DF...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9DF...
A quarter-baked thought: What is the Aha! Distance between two related major theories/ideas?
I mean something like this:
Within the Kuhnian normal science, TO (Theory Old) is believed until we have a scientific revolution when we start seeing things through TN (Theory New).
I mean something like this:
Within the Kuhnian normal science, TO (Theory Old) is believed until we have a scientific revolution when we start seeing things through TN (Theory New).
November 16, 2025 at 4:13 AM
A quarter-baked thought: What is the Aha! Distance between two related major theories/ideas?
I mean something like this:
Within the Kuhnian normal science, TO (Theory Old) is believed until we have a scientific revolution when we start seeing things through TN (Theory New).
I mean something like this:
Within the Kuhnian normal science, TO (Theory Old) is believed until we have a scientific revolution when we start seeing things through TN (Theory New).
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
Can’t agree more.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
It’s hard not to feel insulted by the Canadian federal budget’s implication that researchers currently working in Canada aren’t good enough, so they’ll spend a bunch of taxpayer money to bring in “top talent” from elsewhere.
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Can’t agree more.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
Still trying to wrap my head around the budget news. I want to move on, but honestly can’t.
Yes, there’s some self-interest here, but adding another well-established researcher to an already deprived funding landscape isn’t exactly encouraging.
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
November 6, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
It’s hard not to feel insulted by the Canadian federal budget’s implication that researchers currently working in Canada aren’t good enough, so they’ll spend a bunch of taxpayer money to bring in “top talent” from elsewhere.
November 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
It’s hard not to feel insulted by the Canadian federal budget’s implication that researchers currently working in Canada aren’t good enough, so they’ll spend a bunch of taxpayer money to bring in “top talent” from elsewhere.
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
Canadian researchers should be aware the there is a motion before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Research to force Tricouncils to hand over disaggregated peer review data on all applications:
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
October 30, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Canadian researchers should be aware the there is a motion before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Research to force Tricouncils to hand over disaggregated peer review data on all applications:
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
Applicant names, profiles, demographics
Reviewers names, profiles, comments, and scores
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
As Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR) grows in number of submissions, we are looking for more reviewers and action editors. Please sign up!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
October 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM
As Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR) grows in number of submissions, we are looking for more reviewers and action editors. Please sign up!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
Only one paper to review at a time and <= 6 per year, reviewers report greater satisfaction than reviewing for conferences!
Happy Diwali!
October 21, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Happy Diwali!
Apply to join one of the top AI research 🤖 institutes in the world in the wonderful city of Montréal!
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
Mila's annual supervision request process is now open to receive MSc and PhD applications for Fall 2026 admission! For more information, visit mila.quebec/en/prospecti...
October 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Apply to join one of the top AI research 🤖 institutes in the world in the wonderful city of Montréal!
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
I will be recruiting 1-2 students this year. Just mention my name in your application.
Mirrorless Mirror Descent: A Natural Derivation of Mirror Descent (Gunasekar, Woodworth, Srebro at AISTATS, 2021)
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
October 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Mirrorless Mirror Descent: A Natural Derivation of Mirror Descent (Gunasekar, Woodworth, Srebro at AISTATS, 2021)
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
They show that the Mirror Descent algorithm is a particular way of discretization a certain geometry-aware gradient flow.
proceedings.mlr.press/v130/gunasek...
Interesting paper!
Reposted by Amir-massoud Farahmand
cvoelcker.de/blog/2025/re...
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
a close up of a sad cat with the words pleeeaasse written below it
ALT: a close up of a sad cat with the words pleeeaasse written below it
media.tenor.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
cvoelcker.de/blog/2025/re...
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
I finally gave in and made a nice blog post about my most recent paper. This was a surprising amount of work, so please be nice and go read it!
Understanding the Effect of Stochasticity in Policy Optimization (NeurIPS 2021) by Jincheng Mei, Bo Dai, Chenjun Xiao, @skiandsolve.bsky.social, Dale Schuurmans.
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
October 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Understanding the Effect of Stochasticity in Policy Optimization (NeurIPS 2021) by Jincheng Mei, Bo Dai, Chenjun Xiao, @skiandsolve.bsky.social, Dale Schuurmans.
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
Interesting paper on Policy Gradient (PG) methods!
PG >> NPG or PG << NPG?! It depends on your estimator.
arxiv.org/abs/2110.15572
The philosopher John Searle died recently.
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
September 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The philosopher John Searle died recently.
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
He was one of the famous contemporary philosophers about whom I kept reading or hearing, mostly because of his Chinese Room argument.
Reading some comments by those who have actually met him, it seems that he was a character!
Shanah tovah! שנה טובה
September 24, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Shanah tovah! שנה טובה
Three years ago today, #MahsaAmini was murdered by the Islamic Republic. Her death started the hopeful Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and across the globe.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
September 16, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Three years ago today, #MahsaAmini was murdered by the Islamic Republic. Her death started the hopeful Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and across the globe.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
Mahsa, Nika, Sarina, and 100s of others are not among us anymore, but their influence has changed Iran forever.
The citation depth of ML is shallow: most people don't meaningfully cite a more than a few years old paper (yes, textbooks and obligatory classics aside).
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
September 12, 2025 at 3:41 AM
The citation depth of ML is shallow: most people don't meaningfully cite a more than a few years old paper (yes, textbooks and obligatory classics aside).
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons:
Why? Many reasons, including that the authors probably haven't actually read the old papers.
Why? Two reasons: