Fundamentals of Reinforcement Learning

Adam White is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computing Sciences at the University of Alberta and a Senior Research Scientist at DeepMind. His research centers on artificial intelligence, specifically on replicating or simulating human-level intelligence in both physical and simulated agents. Adam's work explores how intelligence can be modeled through reinforcement learning agents that interact with unknown environments, learning from scalar reward signals rather than explicit feedback. He has taught courses on Reinforcement Learning and Artificial Intelligence at both the University of Alberta and Indiana University, contributing to the education of future leaders in AI. As a Principal Investigator of the Reinforcement Learning and Artificial Intelligence Lab (RLAI) and a fellow at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII), Adam is dedicated to advancing the field through innovative research and practical applications. His contributions include developing new algorithms for reinforcement learning, creating the RL-Glue framework for reinforcement learning experiments, and demonstrating learning capabilities in mobile robots. Outside of academia, Adam enjoys playing Gaelic football and exploring the natural world, reflecting his diverse interests beyond his professional pursuits.