Leakage and Interpretability in Concept-Based Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Parisini, Enrico, Chakraborti, Tapabrata, Harbron, Chris, MacArthur, Ben D., Banerji, Christopher R. S.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Parisini, Enrico
Chakraborti, Tapabrata
Harbron, Chris
MacArthur, Ben D.
Banerji, Christopher R. S.
author_facet Parisini, Enrico
Chakraborti, Tapabrata
Harbron, Chris
MacArthur, Ben D.
Banerji, Christopher R. S.
contents Concept-based Models aim to improve interpretability by predicting high-level intermediate concepts, representing a promising approach for deployment in high-risk scenarios. However, they are known to suffer from information leakage, whereby models exploit unintended information encoded within the learned concepts. We introduce an information-theoretic framework to rigorously characterise and quantify leakage, and define two complementary measures: the concepts-task leakage (CTL) and interconcept leakage (ICL) scores. We show that these measures are strongly predictive of model behaviour under interventions and outperform existing alternatives. Using this framework, we identify the primary causes of leakage and, as a case study, analyse how it manifests in Concept Embedding Models, revealing interconcept and alignment leakage in addition to the concepts-task leakage present by design. Finally, we present a set of practical guidelines for designing concept-based models to reduce leakage and ensure interpretability.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_14094
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Leakage and Interpretability in Concept-Based Models
Parisini, Enrico
Chakraborti, Tapabrata
Harbron, Chris
MacArthur, Ben D.
Banerji, Christopher R. S.
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Concept-based Models aim to improve interpretability by predicting high-level intermediate concepts, representing a promising approach for deployment in high-risk scenarios. However, they are known to suffer from information leakage, whereby models exploit unintended information encoded within the learned concepts. We introduce an information-theoretic framework to rigorously characterise and quantify leakage, and define two complementary measures: the concepts-task leakage (CTL) and interconcept leakage (ICL) scores. We show that these measures are strongly predictive of model behaviour under interventions and outperform existing alternatives. Using this framework, we identify the primary causes of leakage and, as a case study, analyse how it manifests in Concept Embedding Models, revealing interconcept and alignment leakage in addition to the concepts-task leakage present by design. Finally, we present a set of practical guidelines for designing concept-based models to reduce leakage and ensure interpretability.
title Leakage and Interpretability in Concept-Based Models
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.14094