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Lars van der Laan

@larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social
604 followers 137 following 30 posts

Postdoc @Stanford | Ph.D. @UW Statistics | ML Research @Netflix — Machine learning, semiparametric statistics, causal inference, and reinforcement learning. larsvanderlaan.github.io

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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
ArXiv Paperboy (Stat.ME+Econ.EM) @paperposterbot.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
arXiv📈🤖 The V-fold jackknife for semiparametric inference: variance estimation, confidence intervals, and simultaneous confidence bands By Li, Ertefaie, Laan
For decades, the bootstrap has been a default tool for statistical inference because of its broad applicability and minimal analytic requirements. Although its validity is well understood for smooth parametric estimators, its theoretical properties for many modern semiparametric and machine-learning estimators remain largely unstudied. Nevertheless, bootstrap procedures are often used routinely in such settings, even when their validity is unknown and their computational cost is substantial. We develop the $V$-fold jackknife as a computationally efficient and theoretically justified alternative for semiparametric inference. It requires only $V$ leave-fold-out refits and uses the empirical dispersion of jackknife pseudo-values to quantify uncertainty, without deriving or evaluating an influence function. For regular asymptotically linear estimators of pathwise differentiable parameters, we show that, for fixed $V$, the Studentized $V$-fold jackknife statistic converges to a $t$-distribution with $V-1$ degrees of freedom, giving valid confidence intervals even though the jackknife variance estimator does not converge in probability. When $V\to\infty$, we establish consistency of the variance estimator at rate $V^{-1/2}$, allowing $V$ to diverge slowly, for example at rate $\log n$. We also develop simultaneous confidence bands based on the correct componentwise-Studentized limiting distribution. Finally, we extend the theory to generalized asymptotically linear estimators with diverging influence-function variance and slower-than-$\sqrt n$ convergence; scale invariance of Studentization eliminates the need to know the effective convergence rate. Simulations on the average treatment effect, Kaplan--Meier survival curve, and highly adaptive lasso dose-response curves confirm reliable inference, including where influence-function-based standard errors are anti-conservative or unstable.
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
arXiv stat.ML Machine Learning @statml-bot.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Lars van der Laan, Nathan Kallus: Fitted Occupancy-Ratio Evaluation without Bellman Completeness arxiv.org/abs/2607.05375 arxiv.org/pdf/2607.05375 arxiv.org/html/2607.05375
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
ArXiv Paperboy (Stat.ME+Econ.EM) @paperposterbot.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
arXiv📈🤖 AI-Assisted Variance Reduction in Randomized Experiments By Arbour, Ben-Michael, Feller et al
Generative AI and large language models can produce realistic predictions of human behavior from rich, unstructured inputs with little to no task-specific training data. Recent work uses these ``digital twin'' predictions to supplement human responses in surveys and experiments. We study the special case of using AI-generated predictions to reduce variance in randomized experiments. We argue that doing so requires no new estimators and that researchers can simply include AI predictions as covariates in standard regression adjustment, analogous to adjusting for a prognostic score. A benefit of this approach is a ``do no harm'' property whereby the adjusted estimator reverts to the unadjusted difference in means when predictions are uninformative. Other methods, such as variants of prediction-powered inference, do not have this guarantee. We provide implementation guidance, including how to obtain continuous scores from discrete LLM outputs and how to use LLMs to featurize unstructured inputs as auxiliary covariates. We demonstrate these ideas in simulations and three empirical applications: a survey mega-study, an email marketing A/B test, and a large-scale technology platform experiment. Overall, efficiency gains are real if modest, with greater benefits in studies that contain substantial text and other unstructured data. We also confirm the do no harm property empirically. Given these gains and limited costs, we recommend adjusting for AI-generated predictions as a regular empirical practice.
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
arxiv stat.ML @arxiv-stat-ml.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Nicolas Emmenegger, Ellery Stahler, Chara Podimata Prediction-Powered Inference Across Many Tasks for AI Evaluation & Social Science Research arxiv.org/abs/2605.29249
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
Michael Schomaker @mfschomaker.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
1/ I have never really advertised our little Github-R-package "SLbooster": Additional and Modified Learning and Screening functions for Super Learning: github.com/MichaelSchom... What does it do? 👇
github.com
GitHub - MichaelSchomaker/SLbooster
Contribute to MichaelSchomaker/SLbooster development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
Stefan Feuerriegel @sfeuerriegel.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
📢Checkout our new overview on #CausalML in Wiley #StatsRef 👉We give a concise overview of ML for causal inference — incl. IPTW, AIPTW, TMLE, meta-learners, Neyman orthogonality, ... 📄 doi.org/10.1002/9781... (or PM me) with @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social @valik-melnychuk.bsky.social
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ArXiv Paperboy (Stat.ME+Econ.EM) @paperposterbot.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
arXiv📈🤖 Calibeating Prediction-Powered Inference By Laan, Laan
We study semisupervised mean estimation with a small labeled sample, a large unlabeled sample, and a black-box prediction model whose output may be miscalibrated. A standard approach in this setting is augmented inverse-probability weighting (AIPW) [Robins et al., 1994], which protects against prediction-model misspecification but can be inefficient when the prediction score is poorly aligned with the outcome scale. We introduce Calibrated Prediction-Powered Inference, which post-hoc calibrates the prediction score on the labeled sample before using it for semisupervised estimation. This simple step requires no retraining and can improve the original score both as a predictor of the outcome and as a regression adjustment for semisupervised inference. We study both linear and isotonic calibration. For isotonic calibration, we establish first-order optimality guarantees: isotonic post-processing can improve predictive accuracy and estimator efficiency relative to the original score and simpler post-processing rules, while no further post-processing of the fitted isotonic score yields additional first-order gains. For linear calibration, we show first-order equivalence to PPI++. We also clarify the relationship among existing estimators, showing that the original PPI estimator is a special case of AIPW and can be inefficient when the prediction model is accurate, while PPI++ is AIPW with empirical efficiency maximization [Rubin et al., 2008]. In simulations and real-data experiments, our calibrated estimators often outperform PPI and are competitive with, or outperform, AIPW and PPI++. We provide an accompanying Python package, ppi_aipw, at https://larsvanderlaan.github.io/ppi-aipw/.
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
A very nice overview of PPI, which is closely related to the AIPW estimator from missing data and the even older model-assisted estimators from survey sampling.
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Quite happy with this updated version of an older preprint of mine. The paper gives a unifying perspective on many recent adaptive estimators in causal inference, connecting DML, post-model-selection inference, and superefficiency. Some neat connections to calibrated DML and automatic DML.
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
🚨A Researcher's Guide to Empirical Risk Minimization I put together a guide on regret theory for empirical risk minimization (ERM) as I understand it. The goal was to compile results and proof techniques I’ve found useful in my own work. I hope people find it useful more broadly
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
New Paper: Efficient Inference for IRL & Dynamic Discrete Choice We study reward recovery from behavior and inference in inverse RL and DDC, w/o parametric restrictions, while also simplifying optimization A semiparametric extension of the influential Rust (1987) paper arxiv.org/pdf/2512.24407
arxiv.org
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
arxiv stat.ML @arxiv-stat-ml.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Lars van der Laan, Nathan Kallus Stationary Reweighting Yields Local Convergence of Soft Fitted Q-Iteration arxiv.org/abs/2512.23927
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
arxiv stat.ML @arxiv-stat-ml.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Lars van der Laan, Nathan Kallus Fitted Q Evaluation Without Bellman Completeness via Stationary Weighting arxiv.org/abs/2512.23805
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ArXiv Paperboy (Stat.ME+Econ.EM) @paperposterbot.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
link 📈🤖 Bellman Calibration for V-Learning in Offline Reinforcement Learning (Laan, Kallus) We introduce Iterated Bellman Calibration, a simple, model-agnostic, post-hoc procedure for calibrating off-policy value predictions in infinite-horizon Markov decision processes. Bellman calibration requi
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Aleksander Molak @alxndrmlk.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
He did it before Double Machine Learning I met with professor Mark van der Laan because I think his work is pretty incredible and it sometimes feels like a secret that only a few people know about, especially in industry. 1/ #CausalSky #StatSky #CausalInference
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Alex Luedtke @alexluedtke.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
I've advised 15 PhD students—10 were international students. All graduates continue advancing U.S. excellence in research and education. Cutting off this pipeline of talent would be shortsighted.
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
apoorva lal @apoorvalal.com · 19/05/2025
I had a hard time believing it was as simple as this until Lars taught me how to implement it - calibrate=True and you're done github.com/apoorvalal/a...
github.com
GitHub - apoorvalal/aipyw: minimal, fast, object-oriented implementation of the AIPW and related estimators for many discrete treatments. Implemented with scikitlearners and cross-fitting.
minimal, fast, object-oriented implementation of the AIPW and related estimators for many discrete treatments. Implemented with scikitlearners and cross-fitting. - GitHub - apoorvalal/aipyw: minim...
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Had a great time presenting at #ACIC on doubly robust inference via calibration Calibrating nuisance estimates in DML protects against model misspecification and slow convergence. Just one line of code is all it takes.
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
ArXiv Paperboy (Stat.ME+Econ.EM) @paperposterbot.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
link 📈🤖 Nonparametric Instrumental Variable Inference with Many Weak Instruments (Laan, Kallus, Bibaut) We study inference on linear functionals in the nonparametric instrumental variable (NPIV) problem with a discretely-valued instrument under a many-weak-instruments asymptotic regime, where the
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
I’ll be giving an oral presentation at ACIC in the Advancing Causal Inference session with ML on Wednesday! My talk will be on Automatic Double Reinforcement Learning and long term causal inference! I’ll discuss Markov decision processes, Q-functions, and a new form of calibration for RL!
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
New preprint with #Netflix out! We study the NPIV problem with a discrete instrument under a many-weak-instruments regime. A key application: constructing confounding-robust surrogates using past experiments as instruments. My mentor Aurélien Bibaut will be presenting a poster at #ACIC2025!
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Our work on stabilized inverse probability weighting via calibration was accepted to #CLeaR2025! I gave an oral presentation last week and was honored to receive the Best Paper Award. I’ll be giving a related poster talk at #ACIC on calibration and DML and how it provides doubly robust inference!
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
I’ll be giving an oral presentation at ACIC in the Advancing Causal Inference session with ML on Wednesday! My talk will be on Automatic Double Reinforcement Learning and long term causal inference! I’ll discuss Markov decision processes, Q-functions, and a new form of calibration for RL!
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Valeriy M., PhD, MBA, CQF @predict-addict.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
The paper "Generalized Venn and Venn-Abers Calibration with Applications in Conformal Prediction" by Lars van der Laan and Ahmed Alaa introduces a comprehensive framework that extends Venn and Venn-Abers calibration methods to a broad range of prediction tasks and loss functions.
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
🚨 Excited about this new paper on Generalized Venn Calibration and conformal prediction! We show that Venn and Venn-Abers can be extended to general losses, and that conformal prediction can be viewed as Venn multicalibration for the quantile loss! #calibration #conformal
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Reposted by Lars van der Laan
arxiv stat.ML @arxiv-stat-ml.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Lars van der Laan, Ahmed Alaa Generalized Venn and Venn-Abers Calibration with Applications in Conformal Prediction arxiv.org/abs/2502.05676
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Iván Díaz @idiaz.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Your comment also reminds me of this paper where they ensure the estimators solve a certain equation (which I think can be viewed as a kind of balance) using isotonic regression and they show this leads to DR inference: arxiv.org/pdf/2411.02771
arxiv.org
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Thrilled to share our new paper! We introduce a generalized autoDML framework for smooth functionals in general M-estimation problems, significantly broadening the scope of problems where automatic debiasing can be applied!
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ArXiv Paperboy (Stat.ME+Econ.EM) @paperposterbot.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
link 📈🤖 Automatic Debiased Machine Learning for Smooth Functionals of Nonparametric M-Estimands (Laan, Bibaut, Kallus et al) We propose a unified framework for automatic debiased machine learning (autoDML) to perform inference on smooth functionals of infinite-dimensional M-estimands, defined as
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Thrilled to share our new paper! We introduce a generalized autoDML framework for smooth functionals in general M-estimation problems, significantly broadening the scope of problems where automatic debiasing can be applied!
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Aleksander Molak @alxndrmlk.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
A new Double RL (yes RL) paper by @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social and colleagues Love this stuff, this is something I was thinking about for a while and great to see a paper on this topic! #CausalSky
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Excited to share our work on Double RL and long-term causal inference! This project grew out of my internship at Netflix last summer.
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Excited to present "Self-Calibrating Conformal Prediction" at #NeurIPS2024 this afternoon! Join me at the poster session to learn how combining model calibration with predictive inference gives calibrated point predictions and conditionally valid prediction intervals
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arxiv.stat.ME @arxiv-stat-me.bsky.social · 14/05/2024
Mark van der Laan, Sky Qiu, Lars van der Laan Adaptive-TMLE for the Average Treatment Effect based on Randomized Controlled Trial Augmented with Real-World Data arxiv.org/abs/2405.07186
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arxiv.stat.ME @arxiv-stat-me.bsky.social · 06/11/2024
Lars van der Laan, Alex Luedtke, Marco Carone Automatic doubly robust inference for linear functionals via calibrated debiased machine learning arxiv.org/abs/2411.02771
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arxiv.stat.ME @arxiv-stat-me.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Lars van der Laan, Ziming Lin, Marco Carone, Alex Luedtke Stabilized Inverse Probability Weighting via Isotonic Calibration arxiv.org/abs/2411.06342
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Lars van der Laan @larsvanderlaan3.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Excited to share that our paper "Self-Calibrating Conformal Prediction" with Ahmed Alaa is accepted at #NeurIPS2024! 🚀 We combine model calibration and prediction intervals by integrating Venn-Abers into conformal prediction. #conformal #calibration arxiv.org/pdf/2402.07307
arxiv.org
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