# Big Batch Bayesian Active Learning by Considering Predictive Probabilities

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.08223 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.08223/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 14 Jan 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Return of the Latent Space COWBOYS: Re-thinking the use of VAEs for Bayesian Optimisation of Structured Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.03910/) (2025)
- [Adaptive Data Selection for Multi-Layer Perceptron Training: A Sub-linear Value-Driven Method](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.21286/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We observe that BatchBALD, a popular acquisition function for batch Bayesian active learning for classification, can conflate epistemic and aleatoric uncertainty, leading to suboptimal performance. Motivated by this observation, we propose to focus on the predictive probabilities, which only exhibit epistemic uncertainty. The result is an acquisition function that not only performs better, but is also faster to evaluate, allowing for larger batches than before.