New approach to counterfactual reasoning avoids demographic interventions.
problem Limitations of traditional counterfactual reasoning in AI systems.
method Backtracking counterfactual approach instead of interventional.
result Allows addressing social concerns without demographic interventions.
EXOC framework uses auxiliary variables for counterfactual fairness in machine learning.
problem Balancing fairness and predictive accuracy in models with sensitive attributes.
method EXOC framework uses auxiliary variables to define an auxiliary node and a control node for counterfactual fairness.
result EXOC framework outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in achieving counterfactual fairness.
New approach to counterfactual reasoning in AI and psychology.
problem Challenges to conventional counterfactual reasoning in AI and psychology.
method Formalizes a backtracking approach to counterfactuals within the SCM framework.
result First general account and algorithmisation of backtracking counterfactuals.
BRACE generates efficient counterfactual explanations by integrating causal reasoning.
problem Challenges in traditional counterfactual explanations, especially neglecting causal relationships.
method Backtracking counterfactuals with causal reasoning.
result Our method provides deeper insights into model outputs and is computationally efficient.
New approach uses 'forward-looking' counterfactuals for treatment choice.
problem Using traditional 'retrospective' counterfactuals in treatment choice leads to counterintuitive results.
method Introduces 'counterfactual treatment choice' for forward-looking counterfactuals.
result Mismatches between interventional and forward-looking counterfactuals can lead to counterintuitive results.
Flow IV uses IVs to infer counterfactuals in complex models.
problem Identifying causal effects and counterfactual reasoning in nonseparable outcome models.
method Utilizes instrumental variables and normalizing flows to estimate and infer counterfactual outcomes.
result Identifies a method to make causal inferences from observed data in nonseparable models.
MACC learns communication protocols by adapting counterfactual reasoning.
problem Credit assignment and non-stationarity in communication environments.
method Adapts counterfactual reasoning to overcome credit assignment and uses action policy and Q-function of other agents to handle non-stationarity.
result MACC outperforms state-of-the-art baselines in four scenarios.
We elaborate on using importance sampling for causal reasoning, in particular for counterfactual inference. We show how this can be implemented natively in probabilistic programming. By considering the structure of the counterfactual query, one can significantly optimise the inference process. We also consider design c…
CFRecs uses counterfactual reasoning to improve graph-based recommendations in real estate.
problem Improving model interpretability and actionable insights in graph-based recommender systems.
method A two-stage architecture combining GNN and Graph-VAE to propose minimal yet impactful changes in graph structure and node attributes.
result Demonstrates effectiveness in delivering actionable recommendations for home buyers and sellers.
New diffusion models improve counterfactual image generation with semantic control.
problem Challenges in preserving identity, maintaining quality, and ensuring causal model faithfulness in counterfactual image generation.
method Integrates semantic representations into diffusion models through Pearlian causality, introducing spatial, semantic, and dynamic abduction.
result Demonstrates high-level semantic identity preservation and principled trade-offs between faithful causal control and identity preservation.
New model predicts energy prices under different scenarios.
problem Complex causal relationships in energy markets with continuous regime changes.
method Augmented Time Series Structural Causal Models (ATSCM) integrating neural causal discovery.
result Enables novel counterfactual queries in energy markets.
Proposes a new method for estimating counterfactual treatment effects.
problem Uncertainty in identifying causal mechanisms from observational data.
method Introduces a parameterized family of causal mechanisms that generalize Gumbel-max, trained to minimize counterfactual effect variance.
result Trained mechanisms yield lower variance estimates of counterfactual treatment effects.
CausAdv detects adversarial examples using causal reasoning.
problem Vulnerability of CNNs to adversarial perturbations.
method Causal framework based on counterfactual reasoning.
result Adversarial examples exhibit different CI distributions compared to clean samples.
Federated framework learns causal states to predict counterfactuals without centralizing data.
problem Decentralized counterfactual reasoning in coupled industrial systems with private data.
method Federated causal representation learning in state-space systems.
result Proves convergence to centralized oracle and provides privacy guarantees.
New method explains anomalies in multivariate time series data.
problem Understanding and explaining anomalies in multivariate time series data.
method Counterfactual reasoning applied to MDI-detected anomalous intervals.
result Our method accurately identifies and explains anomalies in various extreme events.
Researchers use DT to transfer policies from one environment to another using causal reasoning.
problem Adapting to changes in environmental dynamics in reinforcement learning.
method Applying causal counterfactual reasoning to Decision Transformer (DT) architecture for policy transfer.
result DT successfully transfers a learned policy to new environments while retaining most of the reward.
Proposes minimal interventions over counterfactual explanations for algorithmic recourse.
problem Lack of actionable recommendations for algorithmic recourse.
method Causal reasoning to shift focus from explanations to recommendations.
result Minimal interventions provide more actionable recommendations for recourse.
Paper simplifies complex causal identifiability problems with exogenous isomorphism.
problem Achieving consistent answers to causal questions in Structural Causal Models.
method Introducing exogenous isomorphism and proposing ∼EI-identifiability. result Unified and generalized theories for practical applications in counterfactual reasoning.
Proposes a new method to measure and avoid harm in machine learning decisions.
problem Measuring and avoiding harm in machine learning algorithms.
method Formal definition of harm and benefit using causal models, counterfactual objective functions.
result Demonstrates that standard machine learning methods can lead to harmful policies under distributional shifts.
Machine learning promises to revolutionize clinical decision making and diagnosis. In medical diagnosis a doctor aims to explain a patient's symptoms by determining the diseases \emph{causing} them. However, existing diagnostic algorithms are purely associative, identifying diseases that are strongly correlated with a …
RoBERTa model detects counterfactual statements in text.
problem Detecting and extracting counterfactual statements from text.
method Used RoBERTa language representation model for both subtasks.
result RoBERTa achieved top performance in both subtasks at SemEval-2020.
New RL method learns policies from few data using causal models.
problem Limited interaction data and heterogeneous patient responses.
method Exploits structural causal models to model state dynamics and counterfactual reasoning.
result Counterfactual RL algorithms converge to optimal value function.
Develops methods for making deep learning models more interpretable by answering counterfactual questions.
problem Lack of interpretability in deep learning models, especially in high-stakes applications.
method Introduces causal interpretability, a framework for building models that are causally interpretable by design.
result Identifies a fundamental tradeoff between causal interpretability and predictive accuracy.
Decision-makers are faced with the challenge of estimating what is likely to happen when they take an action. For instance, if I choose not to treat this patient, are they likely to die? Practitioners commonly use supervised learning algorithms to fit predictive models that help decision-makers reason about likely futu…
This work clarifies different transport map constructions and their causal interpretations.
problem Identifying distinct transport map constructions and their equivalence.
method Comparative analysis of three transport map constructions: cyclically monotone, quantile-preserving, and triangular monotone.
result Conditions for equivalence of different transport map constructions.
Paper tackles counterfactual sentence detection and evaluation.
problem Detect and evaluate counterfactual sentences in natural language.
method Used a BERT base model for classification and a hybrid BERT Multi-Layer Perceptron for sequence identification. Introduced cascaded linear inputs to improve performance.
result Achieved an F1 score of 85.00% in Task 1 and 83.90% in Task 2.
Paper models treatment effects by clustering patients with distinct survival characteristics.
problem Estimating treatment efficacy in clinical settings with censored outcomes.
method Latent variable approach to model heterogeneous treatment effects.
result The latent structure can mediate base survival rates and reveal actionable phenotypes.
DoFlow models time series data for causal forecasting and anomaly detection.
problem Forecasting and causal reasoning in multivariate time series.
method Flow-based generative model over causal DAGs.
result Accurate interventional and counterfactual forecasting, anomaly detection.
fairadapt uses causal inference to mitigate algorithmic bias in data pre-processing.
problem Mitigating algorithmic bias in machine learning predictions.
method Causal graphical model and observed data to address counterfactual questions.
result The method can help eliminate discrimination and justify fair decisions.
Proposes TNCM-VAE for generating causal financial time series.
problem Lack of causal reasoning in market generators.
method Combines VAE with structural causal models, enforcing causal constraints through DAGs and using causal Wasserstein distance.
result Superior performance in counterfactual probability estimation, L1 distances as low as 0.03-0.10.
CEA augments reinforcement learning by generating counterfactual experiences.
problem Challenges in reinforcement learning, especially out-of-distribution and inefficient exploration.
method CEA uses variational autoencoders to model state transitions and introduces randomness for non-stationarity. It expands learning data through counterfactual inference.
result CEA outperforms SOTA algorithms in diverse environments.
CST detects discrimination by comparing protected and non-protected individuals with a counterfactual.
problem Detecting discrimination in classifiers using legal fairness conditions.
method Operationalizes fairness given the difference using counterfactual reasoning.
result CST uncovers more discrimination cases than traditional situation testing.
The paper tackles counterfactual learning for stochastic policies with continuous actions.
problem Learning stochastic policies with continuous actions from logged data.
method Introduces a joint kernel embedding of contexts and actions to model continuous actions, and uses proximal point algorithms and smooth estimators for optimization.
result Demonstrates the benefits of using proximal point algorithms and smooth estimators for counterfactual learning.
Enhances counterfactual explanations with more valid and informative saliency maps.
problem Lack of valid counterfactual explanations in existing models.
method Introduces a modified approach to CELS model by removing mask normalization.
result Demonstrates higher validity and more informative counterfactual explanations.
The use of machine learning systems to support decision making in healthcare raises questions as to what extent these systems may introduce or exacerbate disparities in care for historically underrepresented and mistreated groups, due to biases implicitly embedded in observational data in electronic health records. To …
The paper introduces metrics to rank potential outcomes for better decision-making.
problem Optimal action selection in uncertain situations using causal reasoning.
method Introducing two new metrics: probabilities of potential outcome ranking (PoR) and probability of achieving the best potential outcome (PoB). Establishing identification theorems and deriving bounds for these metrics, and presenting estimation methods.
result The estimators' finite-sample properties and their application to a real-world dataset are demonstrated.
Proposes an efficient method for ordered counterfactual explanations.
problem Insufficient explanation of perturbation vectors for executing actions.
method Mixed-Integer Linear Optimization (MILP) approach for evaluating and extracting optimal pairs of actions and orders.
result Demonstrated effectiveness of the proposed method on real datasets.
Counterfactual reasoning is an important paradigm applicable in many fields, such as healthcare, economics, and education. In this work, we propose a novel method to address the issue of \textit{selection bias}. We learn two groups of latent random variables, where one group corresponds to variables that only cause sel…
Proposes a new method for algorithmic recourse in confounded settings.
problem Provides actionable recommendations for individuals affected by automated decisions.
method Relaxes assumptions of no hidden confounding and additive noise, requiring only causal graph and confounding structure.
result Bounds the expected counterfactual effect of recourse actions, ensuring favourable outcomes in expectation.
Benchmark evaluates financial misinformation detection models, revealing weaknesses without external context.
problem Detecting financial misinformation without external references.
method RFC Bench at paragraph level, two tasks: reference-free detection and comparison-based diagnosis.
result Performance improves with comparative context, revealing model weaknesses in reference-free settings.
We examine counterfactual explanations for explaining the decisions made by model-based AI systems. The counterfactual approach we consider defines an explanation as a set of the system's data inputs that causally drives the decision (i.e., changing the inputs in the set changes the decision) and is irreducible (i.e., …
Discovering and exploiting the causal structure in the environment is a crucial challenge for intelligent agents. Here we explore whether causal reasoning can emerge via meta-reinforcement learning. We train a recurrent network with model-free reinforcement learning to solve a range of problems that each contain causal…
AI uses language models to find instrumental variables quickly.
problem Finding valid instrumental variables is a challenging and heuristic process.
method Uses large language models to search for new instrumental variables through narratives and counterfactual reasoning.
result Demonstrates the effectiveness of multi-step and role-playing prompting strategies for LLMs.
The paper proposes a method to explain expert decisions by modeling preferences with 'what if' outcomes.
problem Interpreting and auditing decision-making policies in institutions.
method Integrating counterfactual reasoning into batch inverse reinforcement learning.
result The method effectively recovers accurate and interpretable descriptions of expert behavior.
Although deep learning models have been successfully applied to a variety of tasks, due to the millions of parameters, they are becoming increasingly opaque and complex. In order to establish trust for their widespread commercial use, it is important to formalize a principled framework to reason over these models. In t…
A new framework for robot block-stacking tasks using causal probabilistic models.
problem Robots fail outside controlled environments due to uncertainty and lack of explicit design for all scenarios.
method Causal probabilistic framework combining causal models and probabilistic representations of noise.
result Robots can perceive, reason about, and explain their environment for block-stacking tasks.
Proposes a new method for reliable treatment effect interval estimates.
problem Uncertainty quantification in treatment effect estimation.
method Conformal inference for counterfactuals and individual treatment effects.
result Achieves desired coverage with short intervals in various settings.
FinCARE combines financial data and AI reasoning to improve causal analysis of financial performance.
problem Correlation-based analysis fails to capture true causal relationships in financial performance.
method Hybrid framework integrating causal discovery algorithms with financial domain knowledge from SEC filings and LLM reasoning.
result KG+LLM-enhanced methods improve causal discovery across PC, GES, and NOTEARS by 36-366%.