Aims to create safe reinforcement learning policies by considering individual harm.
problem Optimal policies for a population may harm certain individuals.
method Formalizes individual harm, proposes a two-stage procedure, and establishes finite-sample properties.
result Learned policies maximize expected return while minimizing harm.
We present FlipTest, a black-box technique for uncovering discrimination in classifiers. FlipTest is motivated by the intuitive question: had an individual been of a different protected status, would the model have treated them differently? Rather than relying on causal information to answer this question, FlipTest lev…
Fuses ITRs for primary and secondary outcomes to minimize harm.
problem Learn an ITR maximizing primary outcome while minimizing harm to secondary outcomes.
method Introduces fusion penalty to encourage similar recommendations for different outcomes. Two algorithms estimate the ITR using surrogate loss functions.
result Agreement rate between primary and secondary optimal ITRs converges faster than ignoring secondary outcomes.
New algorithm ensures fairness without sacrificing accuracy.
problem Ensuring fairness in machine learning without harming accuracy.
method Demographic-Agnostic Fairness without Harm (DAFH) algorithm.
result DAFH algorithm achieves higher accuracy than existing methods.
Combining ensembles and data augmentation harms model calibration.
problem Improving model calibration and robustness with ensembles and data augmentation leads to a trade-off.
method Combining ensemble averaging and data augmentation techniques.
result Combining ensembles and data augmentation can harm model calibration.
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.
Consequential decision-making typically incentivizes individuals to behave strategically, tailoring their behavior to the specifics of the decision rule. A long line of work has therefore sought to counteract strategic behavior by designing more conservative decision boundaries in an effort to increase robustness to th…
Proposes a framework to create fair IDRs by enforcing demographic parity constraints.
problem Discrimination in IDRs trained on biased data.
method Incorporates DP and CDP constraints into IDR estimation.
result Theoretically optimal IDRs can be efficiently obtained through perturbations.
Contrastive learning harms minority group representations, affecting downstream tasks.
problem Representation harm in contrastive learning, especially affecting minority groups.
method Causal mediation analysis and stochastic block model explanation.
result Representation harm in contrastive learning is partly responsible for allocation harm in downstream tasks.
While harms of allocation have been increasingly studied as part of the subfield of algorithmic fairness, harms of representation have received considerably less attention. In this paper, we formalize two notions of stereotyping and show how they manifest in later allocative harms within the machine learning pipeline. …
The paper tackles fair policy targeting by optimizing allocation rules to minimize unfairness.
problem Discrimination in individualized treatments of social welfare programs.
method Formulated as a mixed-integer linear program, solved using off-the-shelf algorithms, derived regret bounds and small sample guarantees.
result Designs fair and efficient treatment allocation rules within the Pareto frontier.
Researchers classify harmful structures on unimodular Lie groups.
problem Characterizing harmful structures on Lie groups.
method Analyzing left-invariant structures and using Clifford multiplication.
result Classification of harmful structures on unimodular Lie groups of dimension ≤ 4.
A mechanism to share risks and costs with guarantees against extreme outcomes.
problem Softening extreme individual burdens in risk sharing schemes.
method Formalizes Certified Allocation Problem; uses Conformal Risk Sharing with interpretable sharing policy and split conformal calibration.
result Reduces extreme obligations for high-risk agents while controlling harm to others.
Prediction models can harm patients even when accurate, leading to self-fulfilling prophecies.
problem Prediction models can lead to harmful decisions that worsen patient outcomes.
method Formal characterization of harmful prediction models and analysis of their impact.
result Well-calibrated models are ineffective for decision-making as they do not change the data distribution.
New method stops experiments early for harm in diverse groups.
problem Early stopping of experiments for harmful treatment effects in diverse populations.
method Causal machine learning approach (CLASH) for early stopping.
result CLASH effectively stops experiments early for harmful treatment effects in diverse groups.
Theorem. Let M be a compact, connected, oriented smooth Riemannian n-manifold with non-empty boundary. Then the cohomology of the complex (Harm*(M),d) of harmonic forms on M is given by the direct sum H^p(Harm*(M),d) = H^p(M;R) + H^(p-1)(M;R) for p=0,1,...,n. When M is a closed manifold, a form is harmonic if and only …
We propose nonparametric methods for individual calibration in regression models.
problem Uncertainty quantification and individual calibration for regression models.
method Nonparametric methods agnostic of the underlying model, combining nonparametric and covering number arguments.
result Established matching upper and lower bounds for calibration error.
Practitioners in medicine, business, political science, and other fields are increasingly aware that decisions should be personalized to each patient, customer, or voter. A given treatment (e.g. a drug or advertisement) should be administered only to those who will respond most positively, and certainly not to those wh…
New method handles uncertainty in causal effect estimation for better decision-making.
problem Handling uncertainty in causal effect estimation, especially in high-dimensional data and covariate shift.
method Integrates uncertainty estimation into neural network methods for individual-level causal estimates.
result Uncertainty-aware methods improve decision-making by alerting when predictions are not reliable.
New method estimates harmful instances in GANs for better model performance.
problem Estimating harmful instances in GANs for improved model performance.
method Uses Jacobian of generator's loss to trace harmfulness of instances.
result Correctly inferred changes in GAN evaluation metrics and improved model performance.
The choice of making an intervention depends on its potential benefit or harm in comparison to alternatives. Estimating the likely outcome of alternatives from observational data is a challenging problem as all outcomes are never observed, and selection bias precludes the direct comparison of differently intervened gro…
Our goal is to identify beneficial interventions from observational data. We consider interventions that are narrowly focused (impacting few covariates) and may be tailored to each individual or globally enacted over a population. For applications where harmful intervention is drastically worse than proposing no change…
New framework identifies worst-case shifts for predictive resource allocation models.
problem Identifying harmful shifts in predictive models for resource allocation.
method Hierarchical model structure and submodular optimization for worst-case loss.
result Empirical evidence shows divergent worst-case shifts identified by different metrics.
Study shows harmful overfitting in Sobolev spaces even as training data grows.
problem Harmful overfitting in Sobolev spaces under noisy conditions.
method Geometric argument using Sobolev inequalities.
result Approximately norm-minimizing interpolators exhibit harmful overfitting.
New framework shows algorithmic recourse can be harmful.
problem Risks of providing algorithmic recourse in binary classification.
method Abstract learning-theoretic framework comparing risks with and without recourse.
result Providing recourse can be harmful, increasing class uncertainty and mistakes.
As machine learning (ML) increasingly affects people and society, awareness of its potential unwanted consequences has also grown. To anticipate, prevent, and mitigate undesirable downstream consequences, it is critical that we understand when and how harm might be introduced throughout the ML life cycle. In this paper…
Common fairness definitions in machine learning focus on balancing notions of disparity and utility. In this work, we study fairness in the context of risk disparity among sub-populations. We are interested in learning models that minimize performance discrepancies across sensitive groups without causing unnecessary ha…
Improves GAN performance by identifying and removing harmful training instances.
problem Challenges in applying previous instance removal methods to GANs.
method Proposes influence estimation methods using Jacobian of generator's gradient and instance evaluation scheme based on GAN evaluation metrics.
result Removing harmful instances significantly improves GAN performance.
Bayesian approach quantifies uncertainty in LLM evaluations.
problem Statistical uncertainty in evaluating LLM behavior.
method Bayesian evaluation of LLM behavior using probabilistic text generation strategies.
result Bayesian approach provides useful uncertainty quantification about LLM behavior.
The study finds that memorization is necessary or harmful depending on the prior distribution and noise level.
problem The impact of memorization on generalization in overparameterized models.
method An overparameterized linear model with general priors in a Bayesian setup.
result Explicit conditions for optimal generalization based on the prior distribution and noise level.
New framework learns interpretable rule ensembles without sacrificing accuracy.
problem Trade-off between accuracy and interpretability in rule ensembles.
method Introduces local interpretability and a regularizer to promote it, using coordinate descent with local search.
result Learns rule ensembles with fewer rules to explain individual predictions, maintaining comparable accuracy.
Regularizing for or against class selectivity in DNNs improves test accuracy.
problem The necessity and sufficiency of class selectivity in DNNs.
method Direct regularization of class selectivity in convolutional neural networks.
result Reducing class selectivity improves test accuracy, while increasing it decreases it.
New framework assesses LLM security risks in BFSI.
problem Lack of domain-specific security evaluation for LLMs in BFSI.
method Risk-aware evaluation framework combining taxonomy, automated red-teaming, and ensemble judging.
result Higher decoding stochasticity and adaptive interaction lead to more severe disclosures.
Study characterizes harmful low-fidelity data sources for surrogate models.
problem Identifying which low-fidelity data sources to use in constructing surrogate models.
method Employed benchmark filtering techniques to assess harmful sources using limited data.
result Provided guidelines for using low-fidelity sources in an industrial setting.
Neural Networks are being integrated into safety critical systems, e.g., perception systems for autonomous vehicles, which require trained networks to perform safely in novel scenarios. It is challenging to verify neural networks because their decisions are not explainable, they cannot be exhaustively tested, and finit…
Introduces MPR to measure and optimize representation across intersectional groups in retrieval.
problem Harmful stereotypes, cultural erasure, and social disparities in image search and retrieval.
method Develops MPR metric, practical estimation methods, theoretical guarantees, and optimization algorithms.
result Optimizing MPR yields more proportional representation across multiple intersectional groups, often with minimal retrieval accuracy compromise.
Jointly learns feature and sample relevancies for robust sparse recovery.
problem Sparse recovery sensitivity to data contaminants like outliers or misspecified noise.
method Jointly learns feature and sample relevancies via marginal likelihood optimization.
result Consistent sparse and robust prediction models across diverse tasks.
Ability to quantify and predict progression of a disease is fundamental for selecting an appropriate treatment. Many clinical metrics cannot be acquired frequently either because of their cost (e.g. MRI, gait analysis) or because they are inconvenient or harmful to a patient (e.g. biopsy, x-ray). In such scenarios, in …
Diffusion LLMs can efficiently generate harmful prompts for adversarial testing.
problem Generating harmful prompts for adversarial testing is resource-intensive and costly.
method Transformed adversarial prompt optimization into an efficient inference task using pretrained Diffusion LLMs.
result Only a few conditional samples are required to generate harmful prompts with high reward.
Detects harmful distribution shifts in deployed models without false alarms.
problem Detecting harmful distribution shifts in deployed models without false alarms.
method Sequential tools for testing if the difference between source and target distributions leads to a significant increase in a risk function.
result Demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed framework through extensive empirical studies.
Proposes a method to avoid excessive exploration in reinforcement learning.
problem Avoiding excessive exploration in reinforcement learning to deploy it in practice.
method Designs a novel algorithm using UCB reinforcement learning policy with adaptive exploration constraints.
result Proves that the approach remains conservative while minimizing regret in tabular settings and validates on real-world tasks.
BN^2MF identifies unknown exposure patterns in environmental mixtures.
problem Identifying unknown exposure patterns in environmental mixtures.
method Bayesian non-parametric non-negative matrix factorization (BN^2MF) with non-negative continuous priors and a non-parametric sparse prior.
result Estimates patterns of chemical exposures without specifying the number of patterns.
Selective planning with imperfect models reduces harmful effects of model inadequacy.
problem Harmful effects of using an imperfect model in reinforcement learning.
method Selective planning with heteroscedastic regression to estimate predictive uncertainty from model inadequacy.
result Effective selective planning requires considering both parameter uncertainty and model inadequacy.
Unified and noise-reduced data valuation framework for machine learning.
problem Quantifying the contribution of individual data points in machine learning.
method Beta Shapley, a generalization of Data Shapley, relaxes the efficiency axiom.
result Beta Shapley outperforms state-of-the-art data valuation methods on various ML tasks.
Phishing is the simplest form of cybercrime with the objective of baiting people into giving away delicate information such as individually recognizable data, banking and credit card details, or even credentials and passwords. This type of simple yet most effective cyber-attack is usually launched through emails, phone…
Federated Learning is the current state of the art in supporting secure multi-party machine learning (ML): data is maintained on the owner's device and the updates to the model are aggregated through a secure protocol. However, this process assumes a trusted centralized infrastructure for coordination, and clients must…
RESTA defends LLMs against jailbreaking attacks by adding random noise to embeddings.
problem Vulnerability of LLMs to jailbreaking attacks that generate harmful outputs.
method Adds random noise to embedding vectors and aggregates during token generation.
result RESTA achieves superior robustness versus utility tradeoffs compared to baseline defenses.
Paper predicts crimes using historical data and machine learning.
problem Predicting and preventing crime activities.
method Supervised learning with decision tree, k-nearest neighbor, Random Forest, and Adaboost algorithms.
result The system predicts crimes with better accuracy using historical data.