探究神经网络解释的唯一性,发现同一行为可有多种解释。
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: Is Mechanistic Interpretability Identifiable?
- 分两步探索解释路径:先定位电路再解读,或先猜算法再找对应激活区
- 实验显示多个电路能复现相同行为,同一电路可有不同解释
- 适合关注AI可解释性标准的研究者,尤其关心解释唯一性的方向
随着人工智能在高风险场景中的应用日益广泛,可解释性至关重要。机制可解释性(MI)旨在通过提取人类可理解的算法来逆向解析神经网络的行为。本文探讨一个核心问题:对于给定行为,在MI标准下是否存在唯一解释?借鉴统计学中的可识别性概念,研究了MI解释的可识别性。识别出两种主要策略:(1) “哪里-然后-什么”——先定位复制模型行为的神经电路,再进行解释;(2) “什么-然后-哪里”——从候选算法出发,寻找实现它们的神经激活子空间,使用因果对齐。在布尔函数和小型多层感知机上对两种策略进行全面枚举测试。实验揭示系统性不可识别性:多个电路可复制相同行为,一个电路可能有多个解释,多个算法可与网络对齐,一个算法也可在不同子空间中对齐。唯一性是否必要?实用方法或只需预测性和可控性标准。若理解依赖唯一性,则需更严格标准。同时参考内生可解释性框架,通过多重标准验证解释。本工作推动了人工智能解释标准的建立。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
As AI systems are used in high-stakes applications, ensuring interpretability is crucial. Mechanistic Interpretability (MI) aims to reverse-engineer neural networks by extracting human-understandable algorithms to explain their behavior. This work examines a key question: for a given behavior, and under MI's criteria, does a unique explanation exist? Drawing on identifiability in statistics, where parameters are uniquely inferred under specific assumptions, we explore the identifiability of MI explanations. We identify two main MI strategies: (1) "where-then-what," which isolates a circuit replicating model behavior before interpreting it, and (2) "what-then-where," which starts with candidate algorithms and searches for neural activation subspaces implementing them, using causal alignment. We test both strategies on Boolean functions and small multi-layer perceptrons, fully enumerating candidate explanations. Our experiments reveal systematic non-identifiability: multiple circuits can replicate behavior, a circuit can have multiple interpretations, several algorithms can align with the network, and one algorithm can align with different subspaces. Is uniqueness necessary? A pragmatic approach may require only predictive and manipulability standards. If uniqueness is essential for understanding, stricter criteria may be needed. We also reference the inner interpretability framework, which validates explanations through multiple criteria. This work contributes to defining explanation standards in AI.
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