PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Demystifying “black box” audio models

Researchers survey audio explainable AI methods

2024-02-26
(Press-News.org) AI decision-making is now common in self-driving cars, patient diagnosis and legal consultation, and it needs to be safe and trustworthy. Researchers have been trying to demystify complex AI models by developing interpretable and transparent models, collectively known as explainable AI methods or XAI methods. A research team offered their insight specifically into audio XAI models in a review article published Jan. 23 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal.

Although audio tasks are less researched than visual tasks, their expressive power is not less important. Audio signals are easy to understand and communicate, as they typically depend less on expert explanations than visual signals do. Moreover, scenarios like speech recognition and environmental sound classification are inherently audio-specific.

The review categorizes existing audio XAI methods into two groups: general methods applicable to audio models and audio-specific methods.

Using general methods means choosing an appropriate generic model originally built for non-audio tasks and adjusting it to suit a certain audio task. These methods explain audio models through various input representations like spectrograms and waveforms, and different output formats like features, examples and concepts.

Popular general methods include guided backpropagation, which enhances the standard backpropagation process by highlighting the most relevant parts of the input data, LIME, which approximates a complex model with a simpler model, and network dissection, which analyzes the internal representations learned by a neural network.

Audio-specific methods, on the other hand, are specially designed for audio tasks. They aim to decompose audio inputs into meaningful components, focusing on the auditory nature of audio data. Some examples are CoughLIME, which provides sonified explanations for cough sounds in COVID-19 detection, and audioLIME, which uses source separation to explain music tagging models by attributing importance to audio components.

XAI methods can also be categorized by their stage, scope, input data type and output format. Stage refers to the period where the explanations are generated, whether before, during or after the training process. Scope determines whether the explanation targets the entire model or a specific input. XAI usually involves different strategies, such as explaining with predefined rules or specific input examples, highlighting the most important features, focus areas or input changes, and using simpler models to explain complex ones locally.

The research team identifies several ways audio models could be made more interpretable, such as using raw waveforms or spectrograms to provide listenable explanations and defining higher-level concepts in audio data, which is similar to how superpixels are used in image data. They also believe the expressive power of audio explanations could be extended to non-audio models, and offering a complementary communication channel for vision-based user interactions could be one possibility.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

JMIR Neurotechnology invites submissions on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)

JMIR Neurotechnology invites submissions on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)
2024-02-26
JMIR Publications is pleased to announce a new theme issue in JMIR Neurotechnology exploring brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that represent the transformative convergence of neuroscience, engineering, and technology. The peer-reviewed journal aims to bridge the gap between clinical neuroscience and information technology by providing a platform for applied human research in the field of neurology.  JMIR Neurotechnology welcomes submissions from scientists, clinicians, and technologists. PhD students and early career researchers are ...

Obesity disrupts normal liver function in mice

Obesity disrupts normal liver function in mice
2024-02-26
Your liver plays a vital role in your metabolism, the biological process which converts food into energy. We know that being overweight can negatively affect metabolic activity, but not exactly how. To better understand this, researchers compared the livers of mice which were a typical weight with mice which were obese. They were surprised to find that biological regulation of metabolic activity, after a period of feasting and fasting, was reversed between them. In typical mice, allosteric regulation (the process which controls metabolism) was inhibited during feeding and activated when fasting. However, ...

Watch these predatory fish use rapid color changes to coordinate attacks

Watch these predatory fish use rapid color changes to coordinate attacks
2024-02-26
Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean’s top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at a time. Now a new study reported in the journal Current Biology on February 5 helps to explain how they might coordinate this turn-taking style of attack on their prey to avoid injuring each other. The key, according to the new work, is rapid color changes. “We documented for the first time rapid color change in a group-hunting predator, the striped marlin, as groups of marlin hunted schools of sardines,” says Alicia Burns of Humboldt University ...

Metal scar found on cannibal star

Metal scar found on cannibal star
2024-02-26
When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, researchers have found a unique signature of this process for the first time — a scar imprinted on the surface of a white dwarf star. The results are published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. “It is well known that some white dwarfs — slowly cooling embers of stars like our Sun — are ...

Treating adolescent opioid use disorder in primary care

2024-02-26
About The Study: This survey study found that primary care pediatricians felt less prepared to manage adolescents’ opioid use disorder (OUD) than alcohol, cannabis, or e-cigarette use and were more likely to refer them to offsite care. These results reveal an opportunity for greater workforce training in line with a 2019 survey showing fewer than 1 in 3 pediatric residency programs included education on prescribing OUD medications.  Authors: Scott E. Hadland, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., of Mass General for Children in Boston, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

Use of tobacco products and suicide attempts among elementary school–aged children

2024-02-26
About The Study: The findings of this study of 8,988 preadolescent children suggest that the increased risk of suicide attempts, consistently reported for adolescents and adults who smoke cigarettes, extends to a range of emerging tobacco products and manifests among elementary school–aged children. Further investigations are imperative to clarify the underlying mechanisms and to implement effective preventive policies for children. Authors: Phil H. Lee, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, is the corresponding author.  To ...

Study of 1.2+M births in Sydney, Australia reveals associations between excess heat exposure and preterm births

Study of 1.2+M births in Sydney, Australia reveals associations between excess heat exposure and preterm births
2024-02-26
In the face of increasing temperatures globally, a new Monash-led study of 1.2 million births in Sydney over two decades has shown a strong association between the risk of pre-term birth and exposure to extreme hot temperatures in the third trimester of pregnancy. The data suggested that this association with extreme temperature might be reduced by the level of greenery in a pregnant person’s residential surrounds. The findings suggest health services should consider preparing for an increase in preterm births as our climate warms. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at the relationship ...

Blindness from some inherited eye diseases may be caused by gut bacteria

2024-02-26
Sight loss in certain inherited eye diseases may be caused by gut bacteria, and is potentially treatable by antimicrobials, finds a new study in mice co-led by a UCL and Moorfields researcher. The international study observed that in eyes with sight loss caused by a particular genetic mutation, known to cause eye diseases that lead to blindness, gut bacteria were found within the damaged areas of the eye. The authors of the new paper, published in Cell and jointly led by researchers in China, say their findings suggest that the genetic mutation may relax the body’s defences, thus allowing harmful bacteria to reach the eye and cause blindness. The gut contains trillions ...

Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis articles provide novel insights into previously unknown disease mechanisms

Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis articles provide novel insights into previously unknown disease mechanisms
2024-02-26
DCM is the leading cause of heart failure in patients with chronic diabetes. However, the underlying mechanisms of DCM are poorly understood, and treatment options are limited. Another mystery is the regulation of cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) in the central nervous system. Moreover, the link between the gut microbiome, microbiota-derived metabolites, and the progression of AD remains unknown. In the December issue of JPA, three articles provide insights into the pathologies of DCM, hippocampal neurotoxicity, and AD, providing a comprehensive ...

Enhancing electrogenerated chemiluminescence of an iridium complex

Enhancing electrogenerated chemiluminescence of an iridium complex
2024-02-26
Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) cells, characterized by their self-emissive nature, have gathered significant interest for prospective display applications due to their uncomplicated structure and straightforward fabrication process. These cells are created by sandwiching a solution-based emitting layer between two transparent electrodes. Nevertheless, when compared to other self-emissive devices like light-emitting diodes (LED) and organic LEDs, the luminescent performance of ECL cells ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

From camera to lab: Dr. Etienne Sibille transforms brain aging and depression research

Depression rates in LGBTQIA+ students are three times higher than their peers, new research suggests

Most parents don’t ask about firearms in the homes their kids visit

Beer-only drinkers’ diets are worse than wine drinkers

Eco-friendly biomass pretreatment method yields efficient biofuels and adsorbents

How graph convolutions amplify popularity bias for recommendation?

New lignin-based hydrogel breakthrough for wound healing and controlled drug release

Enhancing compatibility and biodegradability of PLA/biomass composites via forest residue torrefaction

Time alone heightens ‘threat alert’ in teenagers – even when connecting on social media

Study challenges long-held theories on how migratory birds navigate 

Unlocking the secrets of ketosis

AI analysis of PET/CT images can predict side effects of immunotherapy in lung cancer

Making an impact. Research studies a new side of helmet safety: faceguard failures

Specific long term condition combinations have major role in NHS ‘winter pressures’

Men often struggle with transition to fatherhood amid lack of targeted information and support

More green space linked to fewer preventable deaths in most deprived areas of UK

Immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab improves outcomes for patients with soft tissue sarcoma

A formula for life? New model calculates chances of intelligent beings in our Universe and beyond

Could a genetic flaw be the key to stopping people craving sugary treats?

Experts urge complex systems approach to assess A.I. risks

Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increase again in 2024

Winners of Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2024 announced

A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse

Can everyday physical activity improve cognitive health in middle age?

Updated guidance reaffirms CPR with breaths essential for cardiac arrest following drowning

Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation

New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk

'Grow Your Own' teacher prep pipeline at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette funded by US Department of Education

Lab-grown human immune system uncovers weakened response in cancer patients

More than 5 million Americans would be eligible for psychedelic therapy, study finds

[Press-News.org] Demystifying “black box” audio models
Researchers survey audio explainable AI methods