Machine Learning with a Reject Option: A survey

Machine learning models always make a prediction, even when it is likely to be inaccurate. This behavior should be avoided in many decision support applications, where mistakes can have severe consequences. Albeit already studied in 1970, machine learning with rejection recently gained interest. This machine learning subfield enables machine learning models to abstain from making a prediction when likely to make a mistake. This survey aims to provide an overview on machine learning with rejection. We introduce the conditions leading to two types of rejection, ambiguity and novelty rejection, which we carefully formalize. Moreover, we review and categorize strategies to evaluate a model's predictive and rejective quality. Additionally, we define the existing architectures for models with rejection and describe the standard techniques for learning such models. Finally, we provide examples of relevant application domains and show how machine learning with rejection relates to other machine learning research areas

Adaptive prototype-based dissimilarity learning

Zhu X. Adaptive prototype-based dissimilarity learning. Bielefeld: Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld; 2015.In this thesis we focus on prototype-based learning techniques, namely three unsuper- vised techniques: generative topographic mapping (GTM), neural gas (NG) and affinity propagation (AP), and two supervised techniques: generalized learning vector quantiza- tion (GLVQ) and robust soft learning vector quantization (RSLVQ). We extend their abilities with respect to the following central aspects: • Applicability on dissimilarity data: Due to the increased complexity of data, in many cases data are only available in form of (dis)similarities which describe the relations between objects. Classical methods can not directly deal with this kind of data. For unsupervised methods this problem has been studied, here we transfer the same idea to the two supervised prototype-based techniques such that they can directly deal with dissimilarities without an explicit embedding into a vector space. • Quadratic complexity issue: For dealing with dissimilarity data, due to the need of the full dissimilarity matrix, the complexity becomes quadratic which is infeasible for large data sets. In this thesis we investigate two linear approximation techniques: Nyström approximation and patch processing, and integrate them into unsupervised and supervised prototype-based techniques. • Reliability of prototype-based classifiers: In practical applications, a relia- bility measure is beneficial for evaluating the classification quality expected by the end users. Here we adopt concepts from conformal prediction (CP), which provides point-wise confidence measure of the prediction, and we combine those with supervised prototype-based techniques. • Model complexity: By means of the confidence values provided by CP, the model complexity can be automatically adjusted by adding new prototypes to cover low confidence data space. • Extendability to semi-supervised problems: Besides its ability to evaluate a classifier, conformal prediction can also be considered as a classifier. This opens a way that supervised techniques can be easily extended for semi-supervised settings by means of a self-training approach

Rejection and online learning with prototype-based classifiers in adaptive metrical spaces

Fischer L. Rejection and online learning with prototype-based classifiers in adaptive metrical spaces. Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld; 2016.The rising amount of digital data, which is available in almost every domain, causes the need for intelligent, automated data processing. Classification models constitute particularly popular techniques from the machine learning domain with applications ranging from fraud detection up to advanced image classification tasks. Within this thesis, we will focus on so-called prototype-based classifiers as one prominent family of classifiers, since they offer a simple classification scheme, interpretability of the model in terms of prototypes, and good generalisation performance. We will face a few crucial questions which arise whenever such classifiers are used in real-life scenarios which require robustness and reliability of classification and the ability to deal with complex and possibly streaming data sets. Particularly, we will address the following problems: - Deterministic prototype-based classifiers deliver a class label, but no confidence of the classification. The latter is particularly relevant whenever the costs of an error are higher than the costs to reject an example, e.g. in a safety critical system. We investigate ways to enhance prototype-based classifiers by a certainty measure which can efficiently be computed based on the given classifier only and which can be used to reject an unclear classification. - For an efficient rejection, the choice of a suitable threshold is crucial. We investigate in which situations the performance of local rejection can surpass the choice of only a global one, and we propose efficient schemes how to optimally compute local thresholds on a given training set. - For complex data and lifelong learning, the required classifier complexity can be unknown a priori. We propose an efficient, incremental scheme which adjusts the model complexity of a prototype-based classifier based on the certainty of the classification. Thereby, we put particular emphasis on the question how to adjust prototype locations and metric parameters, and how to insert and/or delete prototypes in an efficient way. - As an alternative to the previous solution, we investigate a hybrid architecture which combines an offline classifier with an online classifier based on their certainty values, thus directly addressing the stability/plasticity dilemma. While this is straightforward for classical prototype-based schemes, it poses some challenges as soon as metric learning is integrated into the scheme due to the different inherent data representations. - Finally, we investigate the performance of the proposed hybrid prototype-based classifier within a realistic visual road-terrain-detection scenario