{"about":{"site":"https://codewithpapers.app","non_affiliation":"Code with Papers and Syntology are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Papers with Code, Meta, or the pwc-archive mirror.","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licence_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode","attribution":"https://codewithpapers.app/attribution","modified":"archive material modified by Syntology; see the attribution page"},"url":"/paper/meta-amortized-variational-inference-and","title":"Meta-Amortized Variational Inference and Learning","arxiv_id":"1902.01950","date":"2019-02-05","proceeding":null,"authors":["Mike Wu","Kristy Choi","Noah Goodman","Stefano Ermon"],"abstract":"Despite the recent success in probabilistic modeling and their applications, generative models trained using traditional inference techniques struggle to adapt to new distributions, even when the target distribution may be closely related to the ones seen during training. In this work, we present a doubly-amortized variational inference procedure as a way to address this challenge. By sharing computation across not only a set of query inputs, but also a set of different, related probabilistic models, we learn transferable latent representations that generalize across several related distributions. In particular, given a set of distributions over images, we find the learned representations to transfer to different data transformations. We empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of our method by introducing the MetaVAE, and show that it significantly outperforms baselines on downstream image classification tasks on MNIST (10-50%) and NORB (10-35%).","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.01950v2","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/1902.01950v2.pdf","source":{"archive":"pwc-archive (Hugging Face), CC BY-SA 4.0","snapshot":"2025-07-28","licence_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode","row_kind":"abstracts"},"code_links":[{"paper_slug":"meta-amortized-variational-inference-and","repo_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public","is_official":0,"mentioned_in_paper":0,"mentioned_in_github":1,"framework":"pytorch","reach":{"status":"ok","spdx":"MIT"}}],"tasks":[{"task_slug":"clustering","task_name":"Clustering"},{"task_slug":"density-estimation","task_name":"Density Estimation"},{"task_slug":"image-classification","task_name":"Image Classification"},{"task_slug":"variational-inference","task_name":"Variational Inference"},{"task_slug":"image-classification","task_name":"image-classification"}],"methods":[],"datasets_introduced":[],"methods_introduced":[],"results":[],"syntology":{"atlas_url":"https://app.syntology.ai/?focus=1902.01950","mcp":{"get_harvested_code_for_paper":{"arxiv_id":"1902.01950"}},"developers":"https://syntology.ai/developers","read_at":"2026-09-24T18:15:14+00:00","read_at_is":"when the build read Syntology's graph, not when any sample ran","claim":"Per-sample execution status on synthesized fixtures; not a correctness claim about the paper. Samples come from repositories linked to the paper, official or community; repo_kind says which.","repos":[{"provenance":"external:paperswithcode_snapshot_2025-07-28","url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public","reach":{"status":"ok","spdx":"MIT"}}],"summary":{"ran_violates":1,"unverified":14},"by_repo_kind":{"listed":{"samples":15,"ran":1,"repositories":1}},"repo_kind_vocabulary":{"official":"The archive marks this repository official for the paper","named_in_paper":"The archive records that the paper mentions this repository; it is not marked official","listed":"In the archive's code links for this paper, not marked official and not recorded as mentioned in the paper","found_in_text":"Syntology found this repository in the paper's own text; whether it is the authors' implementation is not asserted","community":"Not in the archive's code links for this paper; a community repository Syntology harvested"},"n_pointer_only_for_licence":0,"samples":[{"code_sha256_prefix":"fac9904f665a5702","entry":"check_integrity","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/norb.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/norb.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"ran_violates","verification_level":1,"contract_check":"VIOLATES","metamorphic_tier":"deterministic","behaviour_fingerprint":true,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"fac9904f665a5702"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"935f9b08c5b2c894","entry":"bernoulli_log_pdf","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/utils.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"935f9b08c5b2c894"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"0f52f0bad48aaa18","entry":"build_exponential_distributions","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/expfam.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/expfam.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"0f52f0bad48aaa18"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"76e176a31eaf932a","entry":"build_gaussian_distributions","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/expfam.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/expfam.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"76e176a31eaf932a"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"f825b288e9867dbb","entry":"build_lognormal_distributions","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/expfam.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/expfam.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"f825b288e9867dbb"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"e05a1775fe390b6c","entry":"build_meta_datasets","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/utils.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"e05a1775fe390b6c"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"1c991e5a54fe3983","entry":"gaussian_log_pdf","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/utils.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"1c991e5a54fe3983"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"6712587e99c8ae0b","entry":"load_json","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/utils.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"6712587e99c8ae0b"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"1caa0883319031dd","entry":"load_many_rotated_mnist","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/mnist.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/mnist.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"1caa0883319031dd"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"028287b30d63951d","entry":"load_norb","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/norb.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/norb.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"028287b30d63951d"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"bdccbb2b75c70306","entry":"load_norb_numpy","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/norb.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/norb.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"bdccbb2b75c70306"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"7d9d81540e82954a","entry":"load_rotated_mnist","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/mnist.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/mnist.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"7d9d81540e82954a"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"2d98356638272e36","entry":"rotate_transform","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/mnist.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/mnist.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"2d98356638272e36"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"1a0f6c311384d31f","entry":"sample_minibatch","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/utils.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"1a0f6c311384d31f"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"df8d5718e67ec582","entry":"sample_minibatch_from_cache","repo":"mhw32/meta-inference-public","repo_kind":"listed","path":"src/datasets/utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/mhw32/meta-inference-public/blob/HEAD/src/datasets/utils.py","link_basis":"harvester_set","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"df8d5718e67ec582"}}]},"arxiv_metadata":null,"syntology_extracted_results":null}