Tong Guo Theoretical deep learning is primarily focused on understanding the fundamental principles, limitations, and mathematical underpinnings of deep neural networks. It aims to address several key problems:
Expressiveness and Representational Power: Theoretical deep learning investigates the expressive power of deep neural networks. It seeks to understand what functions can be approximated by deep networks, and how network architecture, depth, and width influence their representational capacity.
Generalization: Generalization is a central problem in deep learning. Theoretical research aims to explain why deep networks generalize well to unseen data despite having many parameters. It explores concepts like overfitting, bias-variance trade-off, and the impact of network architecture on generalization.
Optimization: Deep learning models are trained using optimization algorithms. Theoretical analysis delves into the properties of optimization landscapes, convergence guarantees, and the choice of optimization algorithms for different network architectures.
Interpretability and Explainability: Understanding why deep networks make specific predictions is crucial. Theoretical work explores methods for interpreting and explaining the decisions made by deep models, especially in fields where model interpretability is critical, such as healthcare and finance.
Robustness and Adversarial Attacks: Deep networks are vulnerable to adversarial attacks, where small perturbations to input data can lead to incorrect predictions. Theoretical research seeks to understand the causes of this vulnerability and develop methods for improving the robustness of models.
Scalability: As deep learning models become larger and more complex, scalability becomes a concern. Theoretical research addresses issues related to training and deploying large models efficiently.
Transfer Learning: Theoretical deep learning investigates how knowledge learned from one task or domain can be transferred to improve performance on related tasks or domains.
Ethical and Fair AI: Theoretical research also delves into ethical considerations and fairness in deep learning, aiming to address issues related to bias, discrimination, and fairness in AI systems.
In summary, theoretical deep learning aims to provide a deeper understanding of the principles underlying deep neural networks, enabling researchers and practitioners to build more effective, interpretable, and robust AI systems. It serves as the theoretical foundation for the practical advances and applications of deep learning in various domains.