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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bareeva, Dilyara, Höhne, Marina M. -C., Warnecke, Alexander, Pirch, Lukas, Müller, Klaus-Robert, Rieck, Konrad, Lapuschkin, Sebastian, Bykov, Kirill
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.06122
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author Bareeva, Dilyara
Höhne, Marina M. -C.
Warnecke, Alexander
Pirch, Lukas
Müller, Klaus-Robert
Rieck, Konrad
Lapuschkin, Sebastian
Bykov, Kirill
author_facet Bareeva, Dilyara
Höhne, Marina M. -C.
Warnecke, Alexander
Pirch, Lukas
Müller, Klaus-Robert
Rieck, Konrad
Lapuschkin, Sebastian
Bykov, Kirill
contents Feature Visualization (FV) is a widely used technique for interpreting concepts learned by Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), which synthesizes input patterns that maximally activate a given feature. Despite its popularity, the trustworthiness of FV explanations has received limited attention. We introduce Gradient Slingshots, a novel method that enables FV manipulation without modifying model architecture or significantly degrading performance. By shaping new trajectories in off-distribution regions of a feature's activation landscape, we coerce the optimization process to converge to a predefined visualization. We evaluate our approach on several DNN architectures, demonstrating its ability to replace faithful FVs with arbitrary targets. These results expose a critical vulnerability: auditors relying solely on FV may accept entirely fabricated explanations. To mitigate this risk, we propose a straightforward defense and quantitatively demonstrate its effectiveness.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_06122
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Manipulating Feature Visualizations with Gradient Slingshots
Bareeva, Dilyara
Höhne, Marina M. -C.
Warnecke, Alexander
Pirch, Lukas
Müller, Klaus-Robert
Rieck, Konrad
Lapuschkin, Sebastian
Bykov, Kirill
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Feature Visualization (FV) is a widely used technique for interpreting concepts learned by Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), which synthesizes input patterns that maximally activate a given feature. Despite its popularity, the trustworthiness of FV explanations has received limited attention. We introduce Gradient Slingshots, a novel method that enables FV manipulation without modifying model architecture or significantly degrading performance. By shaping new trajectories in off-distribution regions of a feature's activation landscape, we coerce the optimization process to converge to a predefined visualization. We evaluate our approach on several DNN architectures, demonstrating its ability to replace faithful FVs with arbitrary targets. These results expose a critical vulnerability: auditors relying solely on FV may accept entirely fabricated explanations. To mitigate this risk, we propose a straightforward defense and quantitatively demonstrate its effectiveness.
title Manipulating Feature Visualizations with Gradient Slingshots
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.06122