NCART: Neural Classification and Regression Tree for Tabular Data

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Luo, Jiaqi, Xu, Shixin
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2023
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author Luo, Jiaqi
Xu, Shixin
author_facet Luo, Jiaqi
Xu, Shixin
contents Deep learning models have become popular in the analysis of tabular data, as they address the limitations of decision trees and enable valuable applications like semi-supervised learning, online learning, and transfer learning. However, these deep-learning approaches often encounter a trade-off. On one hand, they can be computationally expensive when dealing with large-scale or high-dimensional datasets. On the other hand, they may lack interpretability and may not be suitable for small-scale datasets. In this study, we propose a novel interpretable neural network called Neural Classification and Regression Tree (NCART) to overcome these challenges. NCART is a modified version of Residual Networks that replaces fully-connected layers with multiple differentiable oblivious decision trees. By integrating decision trees into the architecture, NCART maintains its interpretability while benefiting from the end-to-end capabilities of neural networks. The simplicity of the NCART architecture makes it well-suited for datasets of varying sizes and reduces computational costs compared to state-of-the-art deep learning models. Extensive numerical experiments demonstrate the superior performance of NCART compared to existing deep learning models, establishing it as a strong competitor to tree-based models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_12198
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle NCART: Neural Classification and Regression Tree for Tabular Data
Luo, Jiaqi
Xu, Shixin
Machine Learning
Deep learning models have become popular in the analysis of tabular data, as they address the limitations of decision trees and enable valuable applications like semi-supervised learning, online learning, and transfer learning. However, these deep-learning approaches often encounter a trade-off. On one hand, they can be computationally expensive when dealing with large-scale or high-dimensional datasets. On the other hand, they may lack interpretability and may not be suitable for small-scale datasets. In this study, we propose a novel interpretable neural network called Neural Classification and Regression Tree (NCART) to overcome these challenges. NCART is a modified version of Residual Networks that replaces fully-connected layers with multiple differentiable oblivious decision trees. By integrating decision trees into the architecture, NCART maintains its interpretability while benefiting from the end-to-end capabilities of neural networks. The simplicity of the NCART architecture makes it well-suited for datasets of varying sizes and reduces computational costs compared to state-of-the-art deep learning models. Extensive numerical experiments demonstrate the superior performance of NCART compared to existing deep learning models, establishing it as a strong competitor to tree-based models.
title NCART: Neural Classification and Regression Tree for Tabular Data
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.12198