MAFT: Efficient Model-Agnostic Fairness Testing for Deep Neural Networks via Zero-Order Gradient Search

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wang, Zhaohui, Zhang, Min, Yang, Jingran, Shao, Bojie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Wang, Zhaohui
Zhang, Min
Yang, Jingran
Shao, Bojie
Zhang, Min
author_facet Wang, Zhaohui
Zhang, Min
Yang, Jingran
Shao, Bojie
Zhang, Min
contents Deep neural networks (DNNs) have shown powerful performance in various applications and are increasingly being used in decision-making systems. However, concerns about fairness in DNNs always persist. Some efficient white-box fairness testing methods about individual fairness have been proposed. Nevertheless, the development of black-box methods has stagnated, and the performance of existing methods is far behind that of white-box methods. In this paper, we propose a novel black-box individual fairness testing method called Model-Agnostic Fairness Testing (MAFT). By leveraging MAFT, practitioners can effectively identify and address discrimination in DL models, regardless of the specific algorithm or architecture employed. Our approach adopts lightweight procedures such as gradient estimation and attribute perturbation rather than non-trivial procedures like symbol execution, rendering it significantly more scalable and applicable than existing methods. We demonstrate that MAFT achieves the same effectiveness as state-of-the-art white-box methods whilst improving the applicability to large-scale networks. Compared to existing black-box approaches, our approach demonstrates distinguished performance in discovering fairness violations w.r.t effectiveness (approximately 14.69 times) and efficiency (approximately 32.58 times).
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_20086
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle MAFT: Efficient Model-Agnostic Fairness Testing for Deep Neural Networks via Zero-Order Gradient Search
Wang, Zhaohui
Zhang, Min
Yang, Jingran
Shao, Bojie
Zhang, Min
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
Software Engineering
Deep neural networks (DNNs) have shown powerful performance in various applications and are increasingly being used in decision-making systems. However, concerns about fairness in DNNs always persist. Some efficient white-box fairness testing methods about individual fairness have been proposed. Nevertheless, the development of black-box methods has stagnated, and the performance of existing methods is far behind that of white-box methods. In this paper, we propose a novel black-box individual fairness testing method called Model-Agnostic Fairness Testing (MAFT). By leveraging MAFT, practitioners can effectively identify and address discrimination in DL models, regardless of the specific algorithm or architecture employed. Our approach adopts lightweight procedures such as gradient estimation and attribute perturbation rather than non-trivial procedures like symbol execution, rendering it significantly more scalable and applicable than existing methods. We demonstrate that MAFT achieves the same effectiveness as state-of-the-art white-box methods whilst improving the applicability to large-scale networks. Compared to existing black-box approaches, our approach demonstrates distinguished performance in discovering fairness violations w.r.t effectiveness (approximately 14.69 times) and efficiency (approximately 32.58 times).
title MAFT: Efficient Model-Agnostic Fairness Testing for Deep Neural Networks via Zero-Order Gradient Search
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
Software Engineering
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.20086