Hierarchical Transformers are Efficient Meta-Reinforcement Learners
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Abstract (arXiv)
We introduce Hierarchical Transformers for Meta-Reinforcement Learning (HTrMRL), a powerful online meta-reinforcement learning approach. HTrMRL aims to address the challenge of enabling reinforcement learning agents to perform effectively in previously unseen tasks. We demonstrate how past episodes serve as a rich source of information, which our model effectively distills and applies to new contexts. Our learned algorithm is capable of outperforming the previous state-of-the-art and provides more efficient meta-training while significantly improving generalization capabilities. Experimental results, obtained across various simulated tasks of the Meta-World Benchmark, indicate a significant improvement in learning efficiency and adaptability compared to the state-of-the-art on a variety of tasks. Our approach not only enhances the agent's ability to generalize from limited data but also paves the way for more robust and versatile AI systems.
Key facts. Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 24 of its 34 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 9 Feb 2024.
Builds on
24 of 34 references.
References · 24
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12 more
- 2019Efficient Off-Policy Meta-Reinforcement Learning via Probabilistic Context Variablescited by 372
- 2019VariBAD: A Very Good Method for Bayes-Adaptive Deep RL via Meta-Learningcited by 210
- 2021A Survey of Zero-shot Generalisation in Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 164
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- 2023Hyperparameters in Reinforcement Learning and How To Tune Themcited by 58
- 2022Contextualize Me -- The Case for Context in Reinforcement Learningcited by 41
- 2022Transformers are Meta-Reinforcement Learnerscited by 39
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- 2022Contextual Transformer for Offline Meta Reinforcement Learningcited by 7
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2024: 4; 2025: 1; 2026: 1.
6 papers.
- 2024Retrieval-Augmented Decision Transformer: External Memory for In-context RLcited by 20
- 2024AMAGO-2: Breaking the Multi-Task Barrier in Meta-Reinforcement Learning with Transformerscited by 14
- 2024XLand-100B: A Large-Scale Multi-Task Dataset for In-Context Reinforcement Learningcited by 13
- 2024Unraveling the Complexity of Memory in RL Agents: an Approach for Classification and Evaluationcited by 5
- 2025Self-Improving Skill Learning for Robust Skill-based Meta-Reinforcement Learningcited by 5
- 2026Meta-Learning and Meta-Reinforcement Learning -- Tracing the Path towards DeepMind's Adaptive Agentcited by 0
- 2026Meta-Learning and Meta-Reinforcement Learning -- Tracing the Path towards DeepMind's Adaptive Agent23 Feb 2026
- 2025Self-Improving Skill Learning for Robust Skill-based Meta-Reinforcement Learning6 Feb 2025
- 2024Unraveling the Complexity of Memory in RL Agents: an Approach for Classification and Evaluation9 Dec 2024
- 2024AMAGO-2: Breaking the Multi-Task Barrier in Meta-Reinforcement Learning with Transformers17 Nov 2024
- 2024Retrieval-Augmented Decision Transformer: External Memory for In-context RL9 Oct 2024
- 2024XLand-100B: A Large-Scale Multi-Task Dataset for In-Context Reinforcement Learning13 Jun 2024