A computer-implemented method for adaptive display brightness adjustment, the method comprising: obtaining current state data characterizing a current state of a device having a display with an adjustable brightness; providing the current state data as input to a brightness prediction machine learning model, wherein the model is configured to process the current state data in accordance with current values of a set of model parameters to generate as output a proposed display brightness for the display of the device; setting the brightness of the display to a brightness that is lower than the proposed display brightness in accordance with an exploration policy; determining whether a user of the device manually adjusts the display brightness; and in response to determining that the user did not manually adjust the display brightness, using the lower brightness as a target output for adjusting the current values of the set of model parameters.