Towards a Unified Framework for Uncertainty-aware Nonlinear Variable Selection with Theoretical Guarantees
We develop a simple and unified framework for nonlinear variable selection that incorporates uncertainty in the prediction function and is compatible with a wide range of machine learning models (e.g., tree ensembles, kernel methods, neural networks, etc). In particular, for a learned nonlinear model $f(\mathbf{x})$, we consider quantifying the importance of an input variable $\mathbf{x}^j$ using the integrated partial derivative $\Psi_j = \Vert \frac{\partial}{\partial \mathbf{x}^j} f(\mathbf{x})\Vert^2_{P_\mathcal{X}}$. We then (1) provide a principled approach for quantifying variable selection uncertainty by deriving its posterior distribution, and (2) show that the approach is generalizable even to non-differentiable models such as tree ensembles. Rigorous Bayesian nonparametric theorems are derived to guarantee the posterior consistency and asymptotic uncertainty of the proposed approach. Extensive simulations and experiments on healthcare benchmark datasets confirm that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing classic and recent variable selection methods.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Tasks
Variable SelectionSimilar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
Bayesian Neural Networks vs. Mixture Density Networks: Theoretical and Empirical Insights for Uncertainty-Aware Nonlinear Modeling
This paper investigates two prominent probabilistic neural modeling paradigms: Bayesian Neural Networks (BNNs) and Mixture Density Networks (MDNs) for uncertainty-aware nonlinear regression. While BNNs incorporate episte…
Boundary-Aware Uncertainty for Feature Attribution Explainers
Post-hoc explanation methods have become a critical tool for understanding black-box classifiers in high-stakes applications. However, high-performing classifiers are often highly nonlinear and can exhibit complex behavi…
Modeling Varying Camera-IMU Time Offset in Optimization-Based Visual-Inertial Odometry
Combining cameras and inertial measurement units (IMUs) has been proven effective in motion tracking, as these two sensing modalities offer complementary characteristics that are suitable for fusion. While most works foc…
Uncertainty-aware Sensitivity Analysis Using Rényi Divergences
For nonlinear supervised learning models, assessing the importance of predictor variables or their interactions is not straightforward because it can vary in the domain of the variables. Importance can be assessed locall…
SensitivityClosed-loop discovery of out-of-distribution processing protocols by evolutionary search and uncertainty-aware learning
Many materials and chemical systems exhibit history-dependent responses, where functional outcomes are governed not only by final-state variables but by the time-dependent sequence of fields, temperatures, or chemical po…