The Bayesian Case Model: A Generative Approach for Case-Based Reasoning and Prototype Classification

TitleThe Bayesian Case Model: A Generative Approach for Case-Based Reasoning and Prototype Classification
Publication TypeConference Proceedings
Year of Conference2014
AuthorsKim, B., C. Rudin, and J. Shah
Conference NameNeural Information Processing Systems (NIPS)
Date Published12/2014
Abstract

We present the Bayesian Case Model (BCM), a general framework for Bayesian case-based reasoning (CBR) and prototype classification and clustering. BCM brings the intuitive power of CBR to a Bayesian generative framework. The BCM learns prototypes, the ``quintessential" observations that best represent clusters in a dataset, by performing joint inference on cluster labels, prototypes and important features. Simultaneously, BCM pursues sparsity by learning subspaces, the sets of features that play important roles in the characterization of the prototypes. The prototype and subspace representation provides quantitative benefits in interpretability while preserving  classification accuracy. Human subject experiments verify statistically significant improvements to participants' understanding when using explanations produced by BCM, compared to those given by prior art.

URLhttp://interactive.mit.edu/sites/default/files/documents/KimRudinShah2014.pdf