Debugging Neural Networks

Deep learning systems are responsible for much of the recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, but for progress to continue they will need to do a better job of explaining themselves. MIT-IBM researchers are developing visualization tools to do just that, allowing software developers to find and fix mistakes and ward off malicious attacks. The tools will allow developers to root out bugs in neural network nodes much as they do now in lines of code. For example, if the network confuses a construction scene with a street bazaar, the tools pinpoint the set of nodes that produced the mistake. In this case, the network incorrectly interpreted the street as a sidewalk, and the construction site as a sales booth. The mistakes would be fixed by retraining these particular network nodes.