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Main Authors: Yu, Chaojian, Shi, Xiaolong, Yu, Jun, Han, Bo, Liu, Tongliang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.00607
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author Yu, Chaojian
Shi, Xiaolong
Yu, Jun
Han, Bo
Liu, Tongliang
author_facet Yu, Chaojian
Shi, Xiaolong
Yu, Jun
Han, Bo
Liu, Tongliang
contents Adversarial training (AT) constructs robust neural networks by incorporating adversarial perturbations into natural data. However, it is plagued by the issue of robust overfitting (RO), which severely damages the model's robustness. In this paper, we investigate RO from a novel feature generalization perspective. Specifically, we design factor ablation experiments to assess the respective impacts of natural data and adversarial perturbations on RO, identifying that the inducing factor of RO stems from natural data. Given that the only difference between adversarial and natural training lies in the inclusion of adversarial perturbations, we further hypothesize that adversarial perturbations degrade the generalization of features in natural data and verify this hypothesis through extensive experiments. Based on these findings, we provide a holistic view of RO from the feature generalization perspective and explain various empirical behaviors associated with RO. To examine our feature generalization perspective, we devise two representative methods, attack strength and data augmentation, to prevent the feature generalization degradation during AT. Extensive experiments conducted on benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed methods can effectively mitigate RO and enhance adversarial robustness.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_00607
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding Robust Overfitting from the Feature Generalization Perspective
Yu, Chaojian
Shi, Xiaolong
Yu, Jun
Han, Bo
Liu, Tongliang
Machine Learning
Adversarial training (AT) constructs robust neural networks by incorporating adversarial perturbations into natural data. However, it is plagued by the issue of robust overfitting (RO), which severely damages the model's robustness. In this paper, we investigate RO from a novel feature generalization perspective. Specifically, we design factor ablation experiments to assess the respective impacts of natural data and adversarial perturbations on RO, identifying that the inducing factor of RO stems from natural data. Given that the only difference between adversarial and natural training lies in the inclusion of adversarial perturbations, we further hypothesize that adversarial perturbations degrade the generalization of features in natural data and verify this hypothesis through extensive experiments. Based on these findings, we provide a holistic view of RO from the feature generalization perspective and explain various empirical behaviors associated with RO. To examine our feature generalization perspective, we devise two representative methods, attack strength and data augmentation, to prevent the feature generalization degradation during AT. Extensive experiments conducted on benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed methods can effectively mitigate RO and enhance adversarial robustness.
title Understanding Robust Overfitting from the Feature Generalization Perspective
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.00607