arXiv:2605.21493cs.LGcs.AI2026-05

提出新方法提升模型识别未知数据能力,打破特征紧凑化误区

Don't Collapse Your Features: Why CenterLoss Hurts OOD Detection and Multi-Scale Mahalanobis Wins

论文配图:Don't Collapse Your Features: Why CenterLoss Hurts OOD Detection and Multi-Scale Mahalanobis Wins
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 用多尺度特征+马氏距离+校准头优化未知样本检测
  • 去中心化损失使平均OOD AUROC达0.9483,超越深度集成等基线
  • 适合追求高可靠性AI系统的研发者,尤其关注模型边界认知

可靠检测分布外(OOD)输入是保障机器学习系统安全部署的基础。现有方法常依赖仅优化分类准确率的特征表示,忽视了认识不确定性(epistemic uncertainty)的独特需求。本文提出GOEN(几何优化的认识网络),结合多尺度特征、L2归一化、马氏距离和基于真实硬性OOD样本训练的校准头。系统消融实验揭示反直觉发现:主流的特征紧凑正则化中心损失(CenterLoss)显著降低OOD检测性能,使平均OOD AUROC从0.9483降至0.9366,尽管分类准确率有所提升。最优变体GOEN-NoCenterLoss在CIFAR-10上实现0.9483的平均OOD AUROC,优于深度集成(0.8827)、KNN(0.8967)和ODIN(0.8870),同时保持良好的分布内准确率。结果挑战了‘更好分类几何自动带来更好不确定性估计’的普遍假设。我们证明:过度紧密的特征簇会压缩类间间距并扭曲协方差结构,阻碍有效检测。GOEN训练时间低于20分钟(单个GPU),为构建能自我认知局限的AI系统提供实用蓝图。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

The ability to detect out-of-distribution (OOD) inputs is fundamental to safe deployment of machine learning systems. Yet, current methods often rely on feature representations that are optimised solely for classification accuracy, neglecting the distinct requirements of epistemic uncertainty. We introduce GOEN (Geometry-Optimised Epistemic Network), a simple pipeline that combines multi-scale features, L2 normalisation, Mahalanobis distance, and a calibration head trained with real hard OOD examples. Through systematic ablation we uncover a counter-intuitive finding: CenterLoss, a popular regulariser for feature compactness, significantly degrades OOD detection performance, reducing average OOD AUROC from 0.9483 to 0.9366 despite improving classification accuracy. The best variant, GOEN-NoCenterLoss, achieves an average OOD AUROC of 0.9483, surpassing all baselines including deep ensembles (0.8827), KNN (0.8967), and ODIN (0.8870) on CIFAR-10 benchmarks, while maintaining competitive in-distribution accuracy. Our results challenge the prevailing assumption that better classification geometry automatically leads to better epistemic uncertainty. Instead, we show that overly tight feature clusters compress inter-class margins and distort the covariance structure needed for effective OOD detection. GOEN is efficient, training in under 20 minutes on a single GPU, and provides a practical blueprint for building AI systems that reliably recognise their own limitations.

OOD检测特征空间不确定性估计模型可靠性

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