Challenging the Performance-Interpretability Trade-off: An Evaluation of Interpretable Machine Learning Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Kruschel, Sven, Hambauer, Nico, Weinzierl, Sven, Zilker, Sandra, Kraus, Mathias, Zschech, Patrick
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Kruschel, Sven
Hambauer, Nico
Weinzierl, Sven
Zilker, Sandra
Kraus, Mathias
Zschech, Patrick
author_facet Kruschel, Sven
Hambauer, Nico
Weinzierl, Sven
Zilker, Sandra
Kraus, Mathias
Zschech, Patrick
contents Machine learning is permeating every conceivable domain to promote data-driven decision support. The focus is often on advanced black-box models due to their assumed performance advantages, whereas interpretable models are often associated with inferior predictive qualities. More recently, however, a new generation of generalized additive models (GAMs) has been proposed that offer promising properties for capturing complex, non-linear patterns while remaining fully interpretable. To uncover the merits and limitations of these models, this study examines the predictive performance of seven different GAMs in comparison to seven commonly used machine learning models based on a collection of twenty tabular benchmark datasets. To ensure a fair and robust model comparison, an extensive hyperparameter search combined with cross-validation was performed, resulting in 68,500 model runs. In addition, this study qualitatively examines the visual output of the models to assess their level of interpretability. Based on these results, the paper dispels the misconception that only black-box models can achieve high accuracy by demonstrating that there is no strict trade-off between predictive performance and model interpretability for tabular data. Furthermore, the paper discusses the importance of GAMs as powerful interpretable models for the field of information systems and derives implications for future work from a socio-technical perspective.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_14429
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Challenging the Performance-Interpretability Trade-off: An Evaluation of Interpretable Machine Learning Models
Kruschel, Sven
Hambauer, Nico
Weinzierl, Sven
Zilker, Sandra
Kraus, Mathias
Zschech, Patrick
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interaction
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Machine learning is permeating every conceivable domain to promote data-driven decision support. The focus is often on advanced black-box models due to their assumed performance advantages, whereas interpretable models are often associated with inferior predictive qualities. More recently, however, a new generation of generalized additive models (GAMs) has been proposed that offer promising properties for capturing complex, non-linear patterns while remaining fully interpretable. To uncover the merits and limitations of these models, this study examines the predictive performance of seven different GAMs in comparison to seven commonly used machine learning models based on a collection of twenty tabular benchmark datasets. To ensure a fair and robust model comparison, an extensive hyperparameter search combined with cross-validation was performed, resulting in 68,500 model runs. In addition, this study qualitatively examines the visual output of the models to assess their level of interpretability. Based on these results, the paper dispels the misconception that only black-box models can achieve high accuracy by demonstrating that there is no strict trade-off between predictive performance and model interpretability for tabular data. Furthermore, the paper discusses the importance of GAMs as powerful interpretable models for the field of information systems and derives implications for future work from a socio-technical perspective.
title Challenging the Performance-Interpretability Trade-off: An Evaluation of Interpretable Machine Learning Models
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interaction
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.14429