Optimizing Data Augmentation through Bayesian Model Selection

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Matymov, Madi, Tran, Ba-Hien, Kampffmeyer, Michael, Heinonen, Markus, Filippone, Maurizio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Matymov, Madi
Tran, Ba-Hien
Kampffmeyer, Michael
Heinonen, Markus
Filippone, Maurizio
author_facet Matymov, Madi
Tran, Ba-Hien
Kampffmeyer, Michael
Heinonen, Markus
Filippone, Maurizio
contents Data Augmentation (DA) has become an essential tool to improve robustness and generalization of modern machine learning. However, when deciding on DA strategies it is critical to choose parameters carefully, and this can be a daunting task which is traditionally left to trial-and-error or expensive optimization based on validation performance. In this paper, we counter these limitations by proposing a novel framework for optimizing DA. In particular, we take a probabilistic view of DA, which leads to the interpretation of augmentation parameters as model (hyper)-parameters, and the optimization of the marginal likelihood with respect to these parameters as a Bayesian model selection problem. Due to its intractability, we derive a tractable ELBO, which allows us to optimize augmentation parameters jointly with model parameters. We provide extensive theoretical results on variational approximation quality, generalization guarantees, invariance properties, and connections to empirical Bayes. Through experiments on computer vision and NLP tasks, we show that our approach improves calibration and yields robust performance over fixed or no augmentation. Our work provides a rigorous foundation for optimizing DA through Bayesian principles with significant potential for robust machine learning.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_21813
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optimizing Data Augmentation through Bayesian Model Selection
Matymov, Madi
Tran, Ba-Hien
Kampffmeyer, Michael
Heinonen, Markus
Filippone, Maurizio
Machine Learning
62F15, 68T07 (Primary) 62M45, 62C10, 65C60 (Secondary)
Data Augmentation (DA) has become an essential tool to improve robustness and generalization of modern machine learning. However, when deciding on DA strategies it is critical to choose parameters carefully, and this can be a daunting task which is traditionally left to trial-and-error or expensive optimization based on validation performance. In this paper, we counter these limitations by proposing a novel framework for optimizing DA. In particular, we take a probabilistic view of DA, which leads to the interpretation of augmentation parameters as model (hyper)-parameters, and the optimization of the marginal likelihood with respect to these parameters as a Bayesian model selection problem. Due to its intractability, we derive a tractable ELBO, which allows us to optimize augmentation parameters jointly with model parameters. We provide extensive theoretical results on variational approximation quality, generalization guarantees, invariance properties, and connections to empirical Bayes. Through experiments on computer vision and NLP tasks, we show that our approach improves calibration and yields robust performance over fixed or no augmentation. Our work provides a rigorous foundation for optimizing DA through Bayesian principles with significant potential for robust machine learning.
title Optimizing Data Augmentation through Bayesian Model Selection
topic Machine Learning
62F15, 68T07 (Primary) 62M45, 62C10, 65C60 (Secondary)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.21813