通过几何分析揭示模型学习过程中的特征作用演化规律。
Feature-Function Curvature Analysis: A Geometric Framework for Explaining Differentiable Models
- 从特征函数曲率出发,量化影响、波动、非线性与交互作用
- 首次实证发现模型先学简单线性关系再学复杂交互
- 动态追踪训练过程,可诊断容量不足与过拟合风险
可解释人工智能(XAI)对建立复杂模型的信任至关重要,但主流归因方法常仅提供静态、片面的模型状态描述。由于将特征作用简化为单一得分,它们难以应对非线性和交互效应。为此,我们提出特征-函数曲率分析(FFCA),一种分析模型所学函数几何结构的新框架。该框架为每个特征生成四维签名,分别量化其:(1) 影响力,(2) 波动性,(3) 非线性,(4) 交互作用。关键的是,我们将此框架扩展至动态原型分析,追踪训练过程中这些签名的演变。这一时间视角使解释从“模型学到了什么”转向“模型如何学习”。我们首次提供了层次化学习的直接实证证据,显示模型始终先学习简单的线性效应,再学习复杂的交互作用。此外,这种动态分析能提供新颖且实用的诊断工具,用于识别模型容量不足及预测过拟合发生。综合实验表明,通过静态与动态组件,FFCA为模型解释提供了必要的几何背景,使解释从简单量化升级为对整个学习过程的细致可信分析。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Explainable AI (XAI) is critical for building trust in complex machine learning models, yet mainstream attribution methods often provide an incomplete, static picture of a model's final state. By collapsing a feature's role into a single score, they are confounded by non-linearity and interactions. To address this, we introduce Feature-Function Curvature Analysis (FFCA), a novel framework that analyzes the geometry of a model's learned function. FFCA produces a 4-dimensional signature for each feature, quantifying its: (1) Impact, (2) Volatility, (3) Non-linearity, and (4) Interaction. Crucially, we extend this framework into Dynamic Archetype Analysis, which tracks the evolution of these signatures throughout the training process. This temporal view moves beyond explaining what a model learned to revealing how it learns. We provide the first direct, empirical evidence of hierarchical learning, showing that models consistently learn simple linear effects before complex interactions. Furthermore, this dynamic analysis provides novel, practical diagnostics for identifying insufficient model capacity and predicting the onset of overfitting. Our comprehensive experiments demonstrate that FFCA, through its static and dynamic components, provides the essential geometric context that transforms model explanation from simple quantification to a nuanced, trustworthy analysis of the entire learning process.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。