CaRiNG: Learning Temporal Causal Representation under Non-Invertible Generation Process

Author

Yifan Shen, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial IntelligenceFollow

Date of Award

4-30-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Machine Learning

Department

Machine Learning

First Advisor

Dr. Kun Zhang

Second Advisor

Dr. Martin Takac

Abstract

"Identifying the underlying time-delayed latent causal processes in sequential data is vital for grasping temporal dynamics and making downstream reasoning. While some recent methods can robustly identify these latent causal variables, they rely on strict assumptions about the invertible generation process from latent variables to observed data. However, these assumptions are often hard to satisfy in real-world applications containing information loss. For instance, the visual perception process translates a 3D space into 2D images, or the phenomenon of persistence of vision incorporates historical data into current perceptions. To address this challenge, we establish an identifiability theory that allows for the recovery of independent latent components even when they come from a nonlinear and non-invertible mix. Using this theory as a foundation, we propose a principled approach, \caring, to learn the \underline{\textbf{Ca}}usal \underline{\textbf{R}}epresentat\underline{\textbf{i}}on of \underline{\textbf{N}}on-invertible \underline{\textbf{G}}enerative temporal data with identifiability guarantees. Specifically, we utilize temporal context to recover lost latent information and apply the conditions in our theory to guide the training process. Through experiments conducted on synthetic datasets, we validate that our \ourmeos method reliably identifies the causal process, even when the generation process is non-invertible. Moreover, we demonstrate that our approach considerably improves temporal understanding and reasoning in practical applications."

Comments

Thesis submitted to the Deanship of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the M.Sc degree in Machine Learning

Advisors:Kun Zhang, Dr. Martin Takac

Online access available for MBZUAI patrons

Recommended Citation

Y. Shen, "CaRiNG: Learning Temporal Causal Representation under Non-Invertible Generation Process,", Apr 2024.