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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Robertson, Zachary, Koyejo, Oluwasanmi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.01870
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author Robertson, Zachary
Koyejo, Oluwasanmi
author_facet Robertson, Zachary
Koyejo, Oluwasanmi
contents Feedback Alignment (FA) methods are biologically inspired local learning rules for training neural networks with reduced communication between layers. While FA has potential applications in distributed and privacy-aware ML, limitations in multi-class classification and lack of theoretical understanding of the alignment mechanism have constrained its impact. This study introduces a unified framework elucidating the operational principles behind alignment in FA. Our key contributions include: (1) a novel conservation law linking changes in synaptic weights to implicit regularization that maintains alignment with the gradient, with support from experiments, (2) sufficient conditions for convergence based on the concept of alignment dominance, and (3) empirical analysis showing better alignment can enhance FA performance on complex multi-class tasks. Overall, these theoretical and practical advancements improve interpretability of bio-plausible learning rules and provide groundwork for developing enhanced FA algorithms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_01870
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Implicit Regularization in Feedback Alignment Learning Mechanisms for Neural Networks
Robertson, Zachary
Koyejo, Oluwasanmi
Machine Learning
Feedback Alignment (FA) methods are biologically inspired local learning rules for training neural networks with reduced communication between layers. While FA has potential applications in distributed and privacy-aware ML, limitations in multi-class classification and lack of theoretical understanding of the alignment mechanism have constrained its impact. This study introduces a unified framework elucidating the operational principles behind alignment in FA. Our key contributions include: (1) a novel conservation law linking changes in synaptic weights to implicit regularization that maintains alignment with the gradient, with support from experiments, (2) sufficient conditions for convergence based on the concept of alignment dominance, and (3) empirical analysis showing better alignment can enhance FA performance on complex multi-class tasks. Overall, these theoretical and practical advancements improve interpretability of bio-plausible learning rules and provide groundwork for developing enhanced FA algorithms.
title Implicit Regularization in Feedback Alignment Learning Mechanisms for Neural Networks
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.01870