We present temporally layered architecture (TLA), a biologically inspired system for temporally adaptive distributed control. TLA layers a fast and a slow controller together to achieve temporal abstraction that allows each layer to focus on a different time-scale. Our design is biologically inspired and draws on the architecture of the human brain which executes actions at different timescales depending on the environment's demands. Such distributed control design is widespread across biological systems because it increases survivability and accuracy in certain and uncertain environments. We demonstrate that TLA can provide many advantages over existing approaches, including persistent exploration, adaptive control, explainable temporal behavior, compute efficiency and distributed control. We present two different algorithms for training TLA: (a) Closed-loop control, where the fast controller is trained over a pre-trained slow controller, allowing better exploration for the fast controller and closed-loop control where the fast controller decides whether to "act-or-not" at each timestep; and (b) Partially open loop control, where the slow controller is trained over a pre-trained fast controller, allowing for open loop-control where the slow controller picks a temporally extended action or defers the next n-actions to the fast controller. We evaluated our method on a suite of continuous control tasks and demonstrate the advantages of TLA over several strong baselines.

Deep neural networks have long training and processing times. Early exits added to neural networks allow the network to make early predictions using intermediate activations in the network in time-sensitive applications. However, early exits increase the training time of the neural networks. We introduce QuickNets: a novel cascaded training algorithm for faster training of neural networks. QuickNets are trained in a layer-wise manner such that each successive layer is only trained on samples that could not be correctly classified by the previous layers. We demonstrate that QuickNets can dynamically distribute learning and have a reduced training cost and inference cost compared to standard Backpropagation. Additionally, we introduce commitment layers that significantly improve the early exits by identifying for over-confident predictions and demonstrate its success.

The General Associative Memory Model (GAMM) has a constant state-dependant energy surface that leads the output dynamics to fixed points, retrieving single memories from a collection of memories that can be asynchronously preloaded. We introduce a new class of General Sequential Episodic Memory Models (GSEMM) that, in the adiabatic limit, exhibit temporally changing energy surface, leading to a series of meta-stable states that are sequential episodic memories. The dynamic energy surface is enabled by newly introduced asymmetric synapses with signal propagation delays in the network's hidden layer. We study the theoretical and empirical properties of two memory models from the GSEMM class, differing in their activation functions. LISEM has non-linearities in the feature layer, whereas DSEM has non-linearity in the hidden layer. In principle, DSEM has a storage capacity that grows exponentially with the number of neurons in the network. We introduce a learning rule for the synapses based on the energy minimization principle and show it can learn single memories and their sequential relationships online. This rule is similar to the Hebbian learning algorithm and Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP), which describe conditions under which synapses between neurons change strength. Thus, GSEMM combines the static and dynamic properties of episodic memory under a single theoretical framework and bridges neuroscience, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.