Understanding imbalanced data: XAI & interpretable ML framework

Abstract

There is a gap between current methods that explain deep learning models that work on imbalanced image data and the needs of the imbalanced learning community. Existing methods that explain imbalanced data are geared toward binary classification, single layer machine learning models and low dimensional data. Current eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques for vision data mainly focus on mapping predictions of specific instances to inputs, instead of examining global data properties and complexities of entire classes. Therefore, there is a need for a framework that is tailored to modern deep networks, that incorporates large, high dimensional, multi-class datasets, and uncovers data complexities commonly found in imbalanced data. We propose a set of techniques that can be used by both deep learning model users to identify, visualize and understand class prototypes, sub-concepts and outlier instances; and by imbalanced learning algorithm developers to detect features and class exemplars that are key to model performance. The components of our framework can be applied sequentially in their entirety or individually, making it fully flexible to the user’s specific needs (https://github.com/dd1github/XAI_for_Imbalanced_Learning).