arXiv Machine Learning

Optimized Instance Alteration for Explaining and Assessing Robustness of Classifiers

arXiv:2607. 06637v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: In this work, we propose a unified approach for diagnosing misclassification and assessing the robustness of black-box classifiers.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 9

Are Classification Robustness and Explanation Robustness Really Strongly Correlated? An Analysis Through Input Loss Landscape

arXiv:2403. 06013v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: This paper delves into the critical area of deep learning robustness, challenging the conventional belief that classification robustness and explanation robustness in image classification systems are inherently correlated.

By Tiejin Chen, Wenwang Huang, Linsey Pang, Dongsheng Luo, Hua Wei
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 23

eXplaining to Learn (eX2L): Regularization Using Contrastive Visual Explanation Pairs for Distribution Shifts

The paper introduces eXplaining to Learn (eX2L), an interpretable framework that regularizes a classifier by penalizing similarity between Grad‑CAM maps of the main label classifier and a confounder classifier. This approach decorrelates confounding features from latent representations during training. On the Spawrious Many‑to‑Many Hard Challenge benchmark, eX2L outperforms the current state‑of‑the‑art by 5.49% in average accuracy and 10.90% in worst‑group accuracy, while also demonstrating functional domain invariance through explicit label‑nuisance decoupling.

By Paulo Mario P. Medina, Jose Marie Antonio Mi\~noza, Sebastian C. Iba\~nez
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 10

Robustness Quantification for Discriminative Models: a New Robustness Metric and its Application to Dynamic Classifier Selection

arXiv:2603. 23318v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Among the different possible strategies for evaluating the reliability of individual predictions of classifiers, robustness quantification stands out as a method that evaluates how much uncertainty a classifier could cope with before changing its prediction.

By Rodrigo F. L. Lassance, Jasper De Bock
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 21

CASE: Contrastive Activation for Class-Sensitive Explanations

The paper introduces a diagnostic test for class sensitivity in saliency methods, revealing that many popular techniques produce nearly identical explanations regardless of the predicted class. This limitation appears across different architectures and datasets, indicating a structural issue. To address this, the authors propose CASE, a contrastive explanation method that isolates features uniquely discriminative for the predicted class, and demonstrate its improved fidelity and class specificity through experiments.

By Dane Williamson, Yangfeng Ji, Matthew Dwyer
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 11

Local Robustness Quantification for Naive Bayes Classifiers and Generative Forests: a General Approach

The paper introduces techniques for measuring the robustness of predictions made by two generative classifiers—naive Bayes classifiers and generative forests—whose underlying models are probabilistic graphical models. Robustness is defined as the degree to which the classifier’s distribution can be perturbed without altering its prediction, with perturbations explored via epsilon‑contamination, total variation distance, and chi‑squared divergence neighborhoods. Experiments on benchmark datasets show that the computed robustness values can serve as indicators of prediction trustworthiness and are compared against other existing indicators.

By Adri\'an Detavernier, Jasper De Bock