304 research outputs found
Explicit probabilistic models for databases and networks
Recent work in data mining and related areas has highlighted the importance
of the statistical assessment of data mining results. Crucial to this endeavour
is the choice of a non-trivial null model for the data, to which the found
patterns can be contrasted. The most influential null models proposed so far
are defined in terms of invariants of the null distribution. Such null models
can be used by computation intensive randomization approaches in estimating the
statistical significance of data mining results.
Here, we introduce a methodology to construct non-trivial probabilistic
models based on the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) principle. We show how MaxEnt
models allow for the natural incorporation of prior information. Furthermore,
they satisfy a number of desirable properties of previously introduced
randomization approaches. Lastly, they also have the benefit that they can be
represented explicitly. We argue that our approach can be used for a variety of
data types. However, for concreteness, we have chosen to demonstrate it in
particular for databases and networks.Comment: Submitte
Conditional network embeddings
Network Embeddings (NEs) map the nodes of a given network into -dimensional Euclidean space . Ideally, this mapping is such that 'similar' nodes are mapped onto nearby points, such that the NE can be used for purposes such as link prediction (if 'similar' means being 'more likely to be connected') or classification (if 'similar' means 'being more likely to have the same label'). In recent years various methods for NE have been introduced, all following a similar strategy: defining a notion of similarity between nodes (typically some distance measure within the network), a distance measure in the embedding space, and a loss function that penalizes large distances for similar nodes and small distances for dissimilar nodes.
A difficulty faced by existing methods is that certain networks are fundamentally hard to embed due to their structural properties: (approximate) multipartiteness, certain degree distributions, assortativity, etc. To overcome this, we introduce a conceptual innovation to the NE literature and propose to create \emph{Conditional Network Embeddings} (CNEs); embeddings that maximally add information with respect to given structural properties (e.g. node degrees, block densities, etc.). We use a simple Bayesian approach to achieve this, and propose a block stochastic gradient descent algorithm for fitting it efficiently.
We demonstrate that CNEs are superior for link prediction and multi-label classification when compared to state-of-the-art methods, and this without adding significant mathematical or computational complexity. Finally, we illustrate the potential of CNE for network visualization
ExplaiNE: An Approach for Explaining Network Embedding-based Link Predictions
Networks are powerful data structures, but are challenging to work with for
conventional machine learning methods. Network Embedding (NE) methods attempt
to resolve this by learning vector representations for the nodes, for
subsequent use in downstream machine learning tasks.
Link Prediction (LP) is one such downstream machine learning task that is an
important use case and popular benchmark for NE methods. Unfortunately, while
NE methods perform exceedingly well at this task, they are lacking in
transparency as compared to simpler LP approaches.
We introduce ExplaiNE, an approach to offer counterfactual explanations for
NE-based LP methods, by identifying existing links in the network that explain
the predicted links. ExplaiNE is applicable to a broad class of NE algorithms.
An extensive empirical evaluation for the NE method `Conditional Network
Embedding' in particular demonstrates its accuracy and scalability
The boundary coefficient : a vertex measure for visualizing and finding structure in weighted graphs
Quantifying and minimizing risk of conflict in social networks
Controversy, disagreement, conflict, polarization and opinion divergence in social networks have been the subject of much recent research. In particular, researchers have addressed the question of how such concepts can be quantified given people’s prior opinions, and how they can be optimized by influencing the opinion of a small number of people or by editing the network’s connectivity.
Here, rather than optimizing such concepts given a specific set of prior opinions, we study whether they can be optimized in the average case and in the worst case over all sets of prior opinions. In particular, we derive the worst-case and average-case conflict risk of networks, and we propose algorithms for optimizing these.
For some measures of conflict, these are non-convex optimization problems with many local minima. We provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of the nature of some of these local minima, and show how they are related to existing organizational structures.
Empirical results show how a small number of edits quickly decreases its conflict risk, both average-case and worst-case. Furthermore, it shows that minimizing average-case conflict risk often does not reduce worst-case conflict risk. Minimizing worst-case conflict risk on the other hand, while computationally more challenging, is generally effective at minimizing both worst-case as well as average-case conflict risk
Benchmarking Network Embedding Models for Link Prediction: Are We Making Progress?
Network embedding methods map a network's nodes to vectors in an embedding
space, in such a way that these representations are useful for estimating some
notion of similarity or proximity between pairs of nodes in the network. The
quality of these node representations is then showcased through results of
downstream prediction tasks. Commonly used benchmark tasks such as link
prediction, however, present complex evaluation pipelines and an abundance of
design choices. This, together with a lack of standardized evaluation setups
can obscure the real progress in the field. In this paper, we aim to shed light
on the state-of-the-art of network embedding methods for link prediction and
show, using a consistent evaluation pipeline, that only thin progress has been
made over the last years. The newly conducted benchmark that we present here,
including 17 embedding methods, also shows that many approaches are
outperformed even by simple heuristics. Finally, we argue that standardized
evaluation tools can repair this situation and boost future progress in this
field
DeBayes : a Bayesian method for debiasing network embeddings
As machine learning algorithms are increasingly deployed for high-impact automated decision making, ethical and increasingly also legal standards demand that they treat all individuals fairly, without discrimination based on their age, gender, race or other sensitive traits. In recent years much progress has been made on ensuring fairness and reducing bias in standard machine learning settings. Yet, for network embedding, with applications in vulnerable domains ranging from social network analysis to recommender systems, current options remain limited both in number and performance. We thus propose DeBayes: a conceptually elegant Bayesian method that is capable of learning debiased embeddings by using a biased prior. Our experiments show that these representations can then be used to perform link prediction that is significantly more fair in terms of popular metrics such as demographic parity and equalized opportunity
Inherent Limitations of AI Fairness
As the real-world impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems has been
steadily growing, so too have these systems come under increasing scrutiny. In
particular, the study of AI fairness has rapidly developed into a rich field of
research with links to computer science, social science, law, and philosophy.
Though many technical solutions for measuring and achieving AI fairness have
been proposed, their model of AI fairness has been widely criticized in recent
years for being misleading and unrealistic.
In our paper, we survey these criticisms of AI fairness and identify key
limitations that are inherent to the prototypical paradigm of AI fairness. By
carefully outlining the extent to which technical solutions can realistically
help in achieving AI fairness, we aim to provide readers with the background
necessary to form a nuanced opinion on developments in the field of fair AI.
This delineation also provides research opportunities for non-AI solutions
peripheral to AI systems in supporting fair decision processes
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