arXiv subjects

Bert Huang

Publications and source records attributed to Bert Huang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Weakly Supervised Label Learning Flows

Supervised learning usually requires a large amount of labelled data. However, attaining ground-truth labels is costly for many tasks. Alternatively, weakly supervised methods learn with cheap weak signals that only approximately label some data. Many existing weakly supervised learning methods learn a deterministic function that estimates labels given the input data and weak signals. In this paper, we develop label learning flows (LLF), a general framework for weakly supervised learning problems. Our method is a generative model based on normalizing flows. The main idea of LLF is to optimize the conditional likelihoods of all possible labelings of the data within a constrained space defined by weak signals. We develop a training method for LLF that trains the conditional flow inversely and avoids estimating the labels. Once a model is trained, we can make predictions with a sampling algorithm. We apply LLF to three weakly supervised learning problems. Experiment results show that our method outperforms many baselines we compare against.

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arXiv2022

Data Consistency for Weakly Supervised Learning

In many applications, training machine learning models involves using large amounts of human-annotated data. Obtaining precise labels for the data is expensive. Instead, training with weak supervision provides a low-cost alternative. We propose a novel weak supervision algorithm that processes noisy labels, i.e., weak signals, while also considering features of the training data to produce accurate labels for training. Our method searches over classifiers of the data representation to find plausible labelings. We call this paradigm data consistent weak supervision. A key facet of our framework is that we are able to estimate labels for data examples low or no coverage from the weak supervision. In addition, we make no assumptions about the joint distribution of the weak signals and true labels of the data. Instead, we use weak signals and the data features to solve a constrained optimization that enforces data consistency among the labels we generate. Empirical evaluation of our method on different datasets shows that it significantly outperforms state-of-the-art weak supervision methods on both text and image classification tasks.

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arXiv2021

Constrained Labeling for Weakly Supervised Learning

Curation of large fully supervised datasets has become one of the major roadblocks for machine learning. Weak supervision provides an alternative to supervised learning by training with cheap, noisy, and possibly correlated labeling functions from varying sources. The key challenge in weakly supervised learning is combining the different weak supervision signals while navigating misleading correlations in their errors. In this paper, we propose a simple data-free approach for combining weak supervision signals by defining a constrained space for the possible labels of the weak signals and training with a random labeling within this constrained space. Our method is efficient and stable, converging after a few iterations of gradient descent. We prove theoretical conditions under which the worst-case error of the randomized label decreases with the rank of the linear constraints. We show experimentally that our method outperforms other weak supervision methods on various text- and image-classification tasks.

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arXiv2021

Labeled Graph Generative Adversarial Networks

As a new approach to train generative models, \emph{generative adversarial networks} (GANs) have achieved considerable success in image generation. This framework has also recently been applied to data with graph structures. We propose labeled-graph generative adversarial networks (LGGAN) to train deep generative models for graph-structured data with node labels. We test the approach on various types of graph datasets, such as collections of citation networks and protein graphs. Experiment results show that our model can generate diverse labeled graphs that match the structural characteristics of the training data and outperforms all alternative approaches in quality and generality. To further evaluate the quality of the generated graphs, we use them on a downstream task of graph classification, and the results show that LGGAN can faithfully capture the important aspects of the graph structure.

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arXiv2021

Bounded Expectation of Label Assignment: Dataset Annotation by Supervised Splitting with Bias-Reduction Techniques

Annotating large unlabeled datasets can be a major bottleneck for machine learning applications. We introduce a scheme for inferring labels of unlabeled data at a fraction of the cost of labeling the entire dataset. Our scheme, bounded expectation of label assignment (BELA), greedily queries an oracle (or human labeler) and partitions a dataset to find data subsets that have mostly the same label. BELA can then infer labels by majority vote of the known labels in each subset. BELA determines whether to split or label from a subset by maximizing a lower bound on the expected number of correctly labeled examples. Our approach differs from existing hierarchical labeling schemes by using supervised models to partition the data, therefore avoiding reliance on unsupervised clustering methods that may not accurately group data by label. We design BELA with strategies to avoid bias that could be introduced through this adaptive partitioning. We evaluate BELA on three datasets and find that it outperforms existing strategies for adaptive labeling.

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arXiv2021

Woodbury Transformations for Deep Generative Flows

Normalizing flows are deep generative models that allow efficient likelihood calculation and sampling. The core requirement for this advantage is that they are constructed using functions that can be efficiently inverted and for which the determinant of the function's Jacobian can be efficiently computed. Researchers have introduced various such flow operations, but few of these allow rich interactions among variables without incurring significant computational costs. In this paper, we introduce Woodbury transformations, which achieve efficient invertibility via the Woodbury matrix identity and efficient determinant calculation via Sylvester's determinant identity. In contrast with other operations used in state-of-the-art normalizing flows, Woodbury transformations enable (1) high-dimensional interactions, (2) efficient sampling, and (3) efficient likelihood evaluation. Other similar operations, such as 1x1 convolutions, emerging convolutions, or periodic convolutions allow at most two of these three advantages. In our experiments on multiple image datasets, we find that Woodbury transformations allow learning of higher-likelihood models than other flow architectures while still enjoying their efficiency advantages.

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arXiv2020

Structured Output Learning with Conditional Generative Flows

Traditional structured prediction models try to learn the conditional likelihood, i.e., p(y|x), to capture the relationship between the structured output y and the input features x. For many models, computing the likelihood is intractable. These models are therefore hard to train, requiring the use of surrogate objectives or variational inference to approximate likelihood. In this paper, we propose conditional Glow (c-Glow), a conditional generative flow for structured output learning. C-Glow benefits from the ability of flow-based models to compute p(y|x) exactly and efficiently. Learning with c-Glow does not require a surrogate objective or performing inference during training. Once trained, we can directly and efficiently generate conditional samples. We develop a sample-based prediction method, which can use this advantage to do efficient and effective inference. In our experiments, we test c-Glow on five different tasks. C-Glow outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines in some tasks and predicts comparable outputs in the other tasks. The results show that c-Glow is versatile and is applicable to many different structured prediction problems.

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arXiv2019

Stochastic Generalized Adversarial Label Learning

The usage of machine learning models has grown substantially and is spreading into several application domains. A common need in using machine learning models is collecting the data required to train these models. In some cases, labeling a massive dataset can be a crippling bottleneck, so there is need to develop models that work when training labels for large amounts of data are not easily obtained. A possible solution is weak supervision, which uses noisy labels that are easily obtained from multiple sources. The challenge is how best to combine these noisy labels and train a model to perform well given a task. In this paper, we propose stochastic generalized adversarial label learning (Stoch-GALL), a framework for training machine learning models that perform well when noisy and possibly correlated labels are provided. Our framework allows users to provide different weak labels and multiple constraints on these labels. Our model then attempts to learn parameters for the data by solving a non-zero sum game optimization. The game is between an adversary that chooses labels for the data and a model that minimizes the error made by the adversarial labels. We test our method on three datasets by training convolutional neural network models that learn to classify image objects with limited access to training labels. Our approach is able to learn even in settings where the weak supervision confounds state-of-the-art weakly supervised learning methods. The results of our experiments demonstrate the applicability of this approach to general classification tasks.

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arXiv2019

Adversarial Label Learning

We consider the task of training classifiers without labels. We propose a weakly supervised method---adversarial label learning---that trains classifiers to perform well against an adversary that chooses labels for training data. The weak supervision constrains what labels the adversary can choose. The method therefore minimizes an upper bound of the classifier's error rate using projected primal-dual subgradient descent. Minimizing this bound protects against bias and dependencies in the weak supervision. Experiments on three real datasets show that our method can train without labels and outperforms other approaches for weakly supervised learning.

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arXiv2018

Block Belief Propagation for Parameter Learning in Markov Random Fields

Traditional learning methods for training Markov random fields require doing inference over all variables to compute the likelihood gradient. The iteration complexity for those methods therefore scales with the size of the graphical models. In this paper, we propose \emph{block belief propagation learning} (BBPL), which uses block-coordinate updates of approximate marginals to compute approximate gradients, removing the need to compute inference on the entire graphical model. Thus, the iteration complexity of BBPL does not scale with the size of the graphs. We prove that the method converges to the same solution as that obtained by using full inference per iteration, despite these approximations, and we empirically demonstrate its scalability improvements over standard training methods.

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arXiv2018

Best-Choice Edge Grafting for Efficient Structure Learning of Markov Random Fields

Incremental methods for structure learning of pairwise Markov random fields (MRFs), such as grafting, improve scalability by avoiding inference over the entire feature space in each optimization step. Instead, inference is performed over an incrementally grown active set of features. In this paper, we address key computational bottlenecks that current incremental techniques still suffer by introducing best-choice edge grafting, an incremental, structured method that activates edges as groups of features in a streaming setting. The method uses a reservoir of edges that satisfy an activation condition, approximating the search for the optimal edge to activate. It also reorganizes the search space using search-history and structure heuristics. Experiments show a significant speedup for structure learning and a controllable trade-off between the speed and quality of learning.

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arXiv2017

New Fairness Metrics for Recommendation that Embrace Differences

We study fairness in collaborative-filtering recommender systems, which are sensitive to discrimination that exists in historical data. Biased data can lead collaborative filtering methods to make unfair predictions against minority groups of users. We identify the insufficiency of existing fairness metrics and propose four new metrics that address different forms of unfairness. These fairness metrics can be optimized by adding fairness terms to the learning objective. Experiments on synthetic and real data show that our new metrics can better measure fairness than the baseline, and that the fairness objectives effectively help reduce unfairness.

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arXiv2017

Beyond Parity: Fairness Objectives for Collaborative Filtering

We study fairness in collaborative-filtering recommender systems, which are sensitive to discrimination that exists in historical data. Biased data can lead collaborative-filtering methods to make unfair predictions for users from minority groups. We identify the insufficiency of existing fairness metrics and propose four new metrics that address different forms of unfairness. These fairness metrics can be optimized by adding fairness terms to the learning objective. Experiments on synthetic and real data show that our new metrics can better measure fairness than the baseline, and that the fairness objectives effectively help reduce unfairness.

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arXiv2017

Hinge-Loss Markov Random Fields and Probabilistic Soft Logic

A fundamental challenge in developing high-impact machine learning technologies is balancing the need to model rich, structured domains with the ability to scale to big data. Many important problem areas are both richly structured and large scale, from social and biological networks, to knowledge graphs and the Web, to images, video, and natural language. In this paper, we introduce two new formalisms for modeling structured data, and show that they can both capture rich structure and scale to big data. The first, hinge-loss Markov random fields (HL-MRFs), is a new kind of probabilistic graphical model that generalizes different approaches to convex inference. We unite three approaches from the randomized algorithms, probabilistic graphical models, and fuzzy logic communities, showing that all three lead to the same inference objective. We then define HL-MRFs by generalizing this unified objective. The second new formalism, probabilistic soft logic (PSL), is a probabilistic programming language that makes HL-MRFs easy to define using a syntax based on first-order logic. We introduce an algorithm for inferring most-probable variable assignments (MAP inference) that is much more scalable than general-purpose convex optimization methods, because it uses message passing to take advantage of sparse dependency structures. We then show how to learn the parameters of HL-MRFs. The learned HL-MRFs are as accurate as analogous discrete models, but much more scalable. Together, these algorithms enable HL-MRFs and PSL to model rich, structured data at scales not previously possible.

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arXiv2017

Recurrent Collective Classification

We propose a new method for training iterative collective classifiers for labeling nodes in network data. The iterative classification algorithm (ICA) is a canonical method for incorporating relational information into classification. Yet, existing methods for training ICA models rely on the assumption that relational features reflect the true labels of the nodes. This unrealistic assumption introduces a bias that is inconsistent with the actual prediction algorithm. In this paper, we introduce recurrent collective classification (RCC), a variant of ICA analogous to recurrent neural network prediction. RCC accommodates any differentiable local classifier and relational feature functions. We provide gradient-based strategies for optimizing over model parameters to more directly minimize the loss function. In our experiments, this direct loss minimization translates to improved accuracy and robustness on real network data. We demonstrate the robustness of RCC in settings where local classification is very noisy, settings that are particularly challenging for ICA.

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arXiv2016

Cyberbullying Identification Using Participant-Vocabulary Consistency

With the rise of social media, people can now form relationships and communities easily regardless of location, race, ethnicity, or gender. However, the power of social media simultaneously enables harmful online behavior such as harassment and bullying. Cyberbullying is a serious social problem, making it an important topic in social network analysis. Machine learning methods can potentially help provide better understanding of this phenomenon, but they must address several key challenges: the rapidly changing vocabulary involved in cyber- bullying, the role of social network structure, and the scale of the data. In this study, we propose a model that simultaneously discovers instigators and victims of bullying as well as new bullying vocabulary by starting with a corpus of social interactions and a seed dictionary of bullying indicators. We formulate an objective function based on participant-vocabulary consistency. We evaluate this approach on Twitter and Ask.fm data sets and show that the proposed method can detect new bullying vocabulary as well as victims and bullies.

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arXiv2014

'Beating the news' with EMBERS: Forecasting Civil Unrest using Open Source Indicators

We describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of EMBERS, an automated, 24x7 continuous system for forecasting civil unrest across 10 countries of Latin America using open source indicators such as tweets, news sources, blogs, economic indicators, and other data sources. Unlike retrospective studies, EMBERS has been making forecasts into the future since Nov 2012 which have been (and continue to be) evaluated by an independent T&E team (MITRE). Of note, EMBERS has successfully forecast the uptick and downtick of incidents during the June 2013 protests in Brazil. We outline the system architecture of EMBERS, individual models that leverage specific data sources, and a fusion and suppression engine that supports trading off specific evaluation criteria. EMBERS also provides an audit trail interface that enables the investigation of why specific predictions were made along with the data utilized for forecasting. Through numerous evaluations, we demonstrate the superiority of EMBERS over baserate methods and its capability to forecast significant societal happenings.

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arXiv2013

Hinge-loss Markov Random Fields: Convex Inference for Structured Prediction

Graphical models for structured domains are powerful tools, but the computational complexities of combinatorial prediction spaces can force restrictions on models, or require approximate inference in order to be tractable. Instead of working in a combinatorial space, we use hinge-loss Markov random fields (HL-MRFs), an expressive class of graphical models with log-concave density functions over continuous variables, which can represent confidences in discrete predictions. This paper demonstrates that HL-MRFs are general tools for fast and accurate structured prediction. We introduce the first inference algorithm that is both scalable and applicable to the full class of HL-MRFs, and show how to train HL-MRFs with several learning algorithms. Our experiments show that HL-MRFs match or surpass the predictive performance of state-of-the-art methods, including discrete models, in four application domains.

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