A Theoretical Framework for Robustness of (Deep) Classifiers against Adversarial Examples
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Most machine learning classifiers, including deep neural networks, are vulnerable to adversarial examples. Such inputs are typically generated by adding small but purposeful modifications that lead to incorrect outputs while imperceptible to human eyes. The goal of this paper is not to introduce a single method, but to make theoretical steps towards fully understanding adversarial examples. By using concepts from topology, our theoretical analysis brings forth the key reasons why an adversarial example can fool a classifier (f_1) and adds its oracle (f_2, like human eyes) in such analysis. By investigating the topological relationship between two (pseudo)metric spaces corresponding to predictor f_1 and oracle f_2, we develop necessary and sufficient conditions that can determine if f_1 is always robust (strong-robust) against adversarial examples according to f_2. Interestingly our theorems indicate that just one unnecessary feature can make f_1 not strong-robust, and the right feature representation learning is the key to getting a classifier that is both accurate and strong-robust.
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