On Robust Trimming of Bayesian Network Classifiers

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of removing costly features from a Bayesian network classifier. We want the classifier to be robust to these changes, and maintain its classification behavior. To this end, we propose a closeness metric between Bayesian classifiers, called the expected classification agreement (ECA). Our corresponding trimming algorithm finds an optimal subset of features and a new classification threshold that maximize the expected agreement, subject to a budgetary constraint. It utilizes new theoretical insights to perform branch-and-bound search in the space of feature sets, while computing bounds on the ECA. Our experiments investigate both the runtime cost of trimming and its effect on the robustness and accuracy of the final classifier.

Citation

@inproceedings{ChoiIJCAI18,
  author = {Choi, YooJung and Van den Broeck, Guy},
  title={On Robust Trimming of Bayesian Network Classifiers},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 27th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI)},
  month = jul,
  year={2018},
}

Preliminary version appeared in the ICML 2018 Workshop on Tractable Probabilistic Modeling (TPM).