mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

A Decision-Language Model (DLM) for Dynamic Restless Multi-Armed Bandit Tasks in Public Health

arXiv 2402.14807 ↗First posted 22 Feb 2024cs.MA cs.AI cs.LGcited by 24

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Abstract (arXiv)

Restless multi-armed bandits (RMAB) have demonstrated success in optimizing resource allocation for large beneficiary populations in public health settings. Unfortunately, RMAB models lack flexibility to adapt to evolving public health policy priorities. Concurrently, Large Language Models (LLMs) have emerged as adept automated planners across domains of robotic control and navigation. In this paper, we propose a Decision Language Model (DLM) for RMABs, enabling dynamic fine-tuning of RMAB policies in public health settings using human-language commands. We propose using LLMs as automated planners to (1) interpret human policy preference prompts, (2) propose reward functions as code for a multi-agent RMAB environment, and (3) iterate on the generated reward functions using feedback from grounded RMAB simulations. We illustrate the application of DLM in collaboration with ARMMAN, an India-based non-profit promoting preventative care for pregnant mothers, that currently relies on RMAB policies to optimally allocate health worker calls to low-resource populations. We conduct a technology demonstration in simulation using the Gemini Pro model, showing DLM can dynamically shape policy outcomes using only human prompts as input.

Key facts. Cited by 24 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 23 of its 108 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 22 Feb 2024.

Builds on

23 of 108 references.

References · 23

  1. 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 15,215
  2. 2023Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learningcited by 4,276
  3. 2016Generative Adversarial Imitation Learningcited by 1,597
  4. 2021Deep Reinforcement Learning at the Edge of the Statistical Precipicecited by 807
  5. 2022What learning algorithm is in-context learning? Investigations with linear modelscited by 684
  6. 2023Eureka: Human-Level Reward Design via Coding Large Language Modelscited by 571
  7. 2022LM-Nav: Robotic Navigation with Large Pre-Trained Models of Language, Vision, and Actioncited by 439
  8. 2023ChatGPT for Robotics: Design Principles and Model Abilitiescited by 299
  9. 2020Transformers as Soft Reasoners over Languagecited by 270
  10. 2023Reward Design with Language Modelscited by 261
  11. 2022Pre-Trained Language Models for Interactive Decision-Makingcited by 221
  12. 2023Guiding Pretraining in Reinforcement Learning with Large Language Modelscited by 187
11 more
  1. 2023Auto MC-Reward: Automated Dense Reward Design with Large Language Models for Minecraftcited by 61
  2. 2021Field Study in Deploying Restless Multi-Armed Bandits: Assisting Non-Profits in Improving Maternal and Child Healthcited by 43
  3. 2019What Can Learned Intrinsic Rewards Capture?cited by 36
  4. 2021NeurWIN: Neural Whittle Index Network For Restless Bandits Via Deep RLcited by 27
  5. 2023NLP for Maternal Healthcare: Perspectives and Guiding Principles in the Age of LLMscited by 14
  6. 2022Scalable Decision-Focused Learning in Restless Multi-Armed Bandits with Application to Maternal and Child Healthcited by 12
  7. 2022Efficient Resource Allocation with Fairness Constraints in Restless Multi-Armed Banditscited by 11
  8. 2023Online Restless Multi-Armed Bandits with Long-Term Fairness Constraintscited by 10
  9. 2023Towards a Pretrained Model for Restless Bandits via Multi-arm Generalizationcited by 9
  10. 2021Selective Intervention Planning using Restless Multi-Armed Bandits to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomescited by 8
  11. 2021Restless and Uncertain: Robust Policies for Restless Bandits via Deep Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learningcited by 7

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Citing papers per year: 2024: 7; 2025: 12; 2026: 5.

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  1. 2024Efficient Evolutionary Search Over Chemical Space with Large Language Modelscited by 61
  2. 2025KABB: Knowledge-Aware Bayesian Bandits for Dynamic Expert Coordination in Multi-Agent Systemscited by 37
  3. 2025From Language to Action: A Review of Large Language Models as Autonomous Agents and Tool Userscited by 32
  4. 2024HealthQ: Unveiling Questioning Capabilities of LLM Chains in Healthcare Conversationscited by 31
  5. 2025CT-PatchTST: Channel-Time Patch Time-Series Transformer for Long-Term Renewable Energy Forecastingcited by 16
  6. 2024HADES: Hardware Accelerated Decoding for Efficient Speculation in Large Language Modelscited by 15
  7. 2025Research on Large Language Model Cross-Cloud Privacy Protection and Collaborative Training based on Federated Learningcited by 11
  8. 2024Balancing Act: Prioritization Strategies for LLM-Designed Restless Bandit Rewardscited by 9
  9. 2024Towards Foundation-model-based Multiagent System to Accelerate AI for Social Impactcited by 9
  10. 2025Image-to-Image Translation with Diffusion Transformers and CLIP-Based Image Conditioningcited by 6
  11. 2024The Bandit Whisperer: Communication Learning for Restless Banditscited by 5
  12. 2024Improving the Prediction of Individual Engagement in Recommendations Using Cognitive Modelscited by 3
12 more
  1. 2025Reflective Verbal Reward Design for Pluralistic Alignmentcited by 2
  2. 2025Lightweight Robust Direct Preference Optimizationcited by 2
  3. 2025Anomaly Detection and Early Warning Mechanism for Intelligent Monitoring Systems in Multi-Cloud Environments Based on LLMcited by 1
  4. 2025Online Learning of Whittle Indices for Restless Bandits with Non-Stationary Transition Kernelscited by 1
  5. 2025VORTEX: Aligning Task Utility and Human Preferences through LLM-Guided Reward Shapingcited by 1
  6. 2026A Component-Based Survey of Interactions between Large Language Models and Multi-Armed Banditscited by 1
  7. 2025An Intelligent Fault Self-Healing Mechanism for Cloud AI Systems via Integration of Large Language Models and Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 0
  8. 2025RescueLens: LLM-Powered Triage and Action on Volunteer Feedback for Food Rescuecited by 0
  9. 2026Health Facility Location in Ethiopia: Leveraging LLMs to Integrate Expert Knowledge into Algorithmic Planningcited by 0
  10. 2026Decisions and Deployment: The Five-Year SAHELI Project (2020-2025) on Restless Multi-Armed Bandits for Improving Maternal and Child Healthcited by 0
  11. 2026Generating Robust Portfolios of Optimization Models using Large Language Modelscited by 0
  12. 2026The Evidence Ladder for Reinforcement Learning in Healthcare: From Retrospective Policies to Trusted Interventionscited by 0