为聚类结果中的每个点提供置信度评分,区分稳定与模糊的归属。
CAKE: Confidence in Assignments via K-partition Ensembles
- 通过多轮聚类结果统计点的归属稳定性与局部几何一致性
- 生成0到1间的置信度分数,准确识别模糊点与核心点
- 适合需要筛选可靠聚类结果的研究者或下游任务
聚类广泛用于无监督结构发现,但难以判断单个样本归属的可靠性。传统诊断指标如收敛行为或目标函数值反映全局质量,却无法揭示特定实例的置信度,尤其对初始化敏感的算法(如k-means)更为明显。集成方法虽提升全局一致性,但缺乏同时结合跨运行一致性和聚类结构几何支持的点级置信度量化工具。本文提出CAKE(Confidence in Assignments via K-partition Ensembles),一种基于聚类集成的框架,通过两个互补统计量——归属稳定性与局部几何拟合一致性——评估每个点,并融合为[0,1]区间内可解释的置信度分数。理论分析表明,该方法在噪声下仍有效,能区分稳定与不稳定点。在合成与真实数据集上的实验显示,CAKE能有效识别模糊点与稳定核心成员,为后续聚类流程提供可信度排序。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Clustering is widely used for unsupervised structure discovery, yet it offers limited insight into how reliable each individual assignment is. Diagnostics, such as convergence behavior or objective values, may reflect global quality, but they do not indicate whether particular instances are assigned confidently, especially for initialization-sensitive algorithms like k-means. This assignment-level instability can undermine both accuracy and robustness. Ensemble approaches improve global consistency by aggregating multiple runs, but they typically lack tools for quantifying pointwise confidence in a way that combines cross-run agreement with geometric support from the learned cluster structure. This work introduces CAKE (Confidence in Assignments via K-partition Ensembles), a framework that evaluates each point using two complementary statistics computed over a clustering ensemble: assignment stability and consistency of local geometric fit. These are combined into a single, interpretable score in [0,1]. The theoretical analysis shows that CAKE remains effective under noise and separates stable from unstable points. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets indicate that CAKE effectively highlights ambiguous points and stable core members, providing a confidence ranking over instances that can be used for selection or prioritization in downstream clustering workflows.
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