arXiv:2605.25211cs.LG2026-05

让机器学习模型学会随环境变化调整因果关系,提升泛化能力。

Evolving Causal Regulatory Networks (ECR-Net)

论文配图:Evolving Causal Regulatory Networks (ECR-Net)
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 用演化算法搜索动态因果图,模拟基因调控网络的自适应机制。
  • 能识别数据分布变化并自动调整因果结构,解释新环境下的系统行为。
  • 适合研究复杂系统演变、追求鲁棒性与可解释性的科研人员。

现代机器学习模型擅长模式识别,但泛化能力差,常因捕捉虚假相关而非底层因果机制而失效。现有因果发现方法多假设图结构静态,难以建模随环境变化的系统。本文提出ECR-Net——一种受生物基因调控网络启发的动态因果机制发现框架。该模型将数据生成过程视为动态系统,由局部递归函数构成,变量间可相互激活或抑制。通过演化搜索算法优化候选调控图,基于模拟系统动态对观测数据的重建效果评估适应度。其核心创新在于显式利用数据统计特性变化作为环境冲击信号,触发演化搜索,发现如边激活/抑制等简洁拓扑修改,以解释新数据格局。我们认为ECR-Net代表一类新型自适应结构性因果模型,能揭示系统根本规则如何变化,为非平稳复杂系统提供稳健泛化路径。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Modern machine learning models excel at pattern recognition but remain brittle, often failing to generalize out of distribution (OOD) because they capture spurious correlations rather than the underlying causal data-generating process. Current causal discovery methods, while powerful, typically assume a static graph structure, rendering them unable to model systems that adapt or undergo structural changes across different environments. We introduce ECR-Net, Evolving Causal Regulatory Networks, a novel, bio-inspired framework for adaptive causal mechanism discovery. Our approach models the data-generating process not as a static graph, but as a dynamic system analogous to a Gene Regulatory Network (GRN), composed of localized, recursive functions where variables can activate and inhibit one another. To discover the latent structure of this network, we employ an evolutionary search algorithm that evolves a population of candidate regulatory graphs, optimizing for a fitness function that measures how well the simulated system dynamics reconstruct the observed data. The key innovation of ECR-Net is its ability to model structural adaptation, it explicitly ingests shifts in the data's statistical properties as signals of an environmental shock. In response, the evolutionary search identifies parsimonious modifications to the causal graph topology, such as link inhibitions or activations that explain the new data regime. We posit that ECR-Net represents a new class of adaptive Structural Causal Models capable of discovering how and why a system's fundamental rules change, offering a path toward robust generalization in complex, non-stationary systems.

因果发现动态系统自适应模型

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