Bi-level optimization, especially the gradient-based category, has been widely used in the deep learning community including hyperparameter optimization and meta-knowledge extraction. Bi-level optimization embeds one problem within another and the gradient-based category solves the outer level task by computing the hypergradient, which is much more efficient than classical methods such as the evolutionary algorithm. In this survey, we first give a formal definition of the gradient-based bi-level optimization. Secondly, we illustrate how to formulate a research problem as a bi-level optimization problem, which is of great practical use for beginners. More specifically, there are two formulations: the single-task formulation to optimize hyperparameters such as regularization parameters and the distilled data, and the multi-task formulation to extract meta knowledge such as the model initialization. With a bi-level formulation, we then discuss four bi-level optimization solvers to update the outer variable including explicit gradient update, proxy update, implicit function update, and closed-form update. Last but not least, we conclude the survey by pointing out the great potential of gradient-based bi-level optimization on science problems (AI4Science).

本篇综述论文研究了基于梯度的双层优化方法在深度学习中的应用和发展，通过探讨单任务和多任务优化问题的双层公式和四种优化器的应用，展示其在优化超参数和提取元知识方面的实用性和高效性，最后指出其广阔的科学问题应用前景。

基于梯度的双层优化在深度学习中的应用