打通因果与传统表征学习,构建统一框架实现双向赋能。
A Dialogue between Causal and Traditional Representation Learning: Toward Mutual Benefits in a Unified Formulation
- 提出任务+约束的统一表征框架,连接两类学习范式。
- 实验表明因果约束效果高度依赖所配任务,非普适有效。
- 适合研究表征学习理论与应用融合的学者参考。
因果表征学习(CRL)与传统表征学习长期分道扬镳:前者侧重理论可识别性,后者关注应用目标与经验性能。这种差异导致术语、问题设定和评估方式脱节,阻碍交流并引发重复工作。本文主张两领域应开展对话而非割裂对待。为此,我们提出统一框架,将表征学习分解为任务组件(需保留的信息)和约束组件(对隐空间施加的结构)。在此框架下,双向获益:CRL提供理论工具判断结构约束的有效性,传统学习则贡献任务设计与目标选择的实践洞察,助力改进CRL方法。通过在CausalVerse上的实验发现,因果约束的效果强烈依赖于所搭配的任务,其有效性并非恒定。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Causal representation learning (CRL) and traditional representation learning have largely developed along different trajectories. Traditional representation learning has been driven mainly by applications and empirical objectives, whereas CRL has focused more on theoretical questions, particularly identifiability. This difference in emphasis has created a gap between the two fields in terminology, problem formulation, and evaluation, limiting communication and sometimes leading to disconnected or redundant efforts. In this paper, we argue that these two fields should be brought into dialogue rather than treated as separate paradigms. To this end, we introduce a unified formulation in which the representation learning is characterized by two components: a task component, which specifies what information the learned representation is required to preserve, and a constraint component, which specifies what structure is imposed on the latent space. Under this formulation, the benefits run in both directions. CRL provides theoretical tools for understanding when structured latent constraints are useful or necessary, while traditional representation learning offers practical insights on task design and objective choice that can improve the development of CRL methods. To illustrate this interaction, we experimentally study how different task components affect the behavior of CRL methods under different structured constraints. Results on CausalVerse show that the effectiveness of causal constraints depends strongly on the tasks with which they are paired.
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