Inverse Abstraction of Neural Networks Using Symbolic Interpolation

Abstract Neural networks in real-world applications have to satisfy critical properties such as safety and reliability. The analysis of such properties typically requires extracting information through computing pre-images of the network transformations, but it is well-known that explicit computation of pre-images is intractable. We introduce new methods for computing compact symbolic abstractions of pre-images by computing their overapproximations and underapproximations through all layers. The abstraction of pre-images enables formal analysis and knowledge extraction without affecting standard learning algorithms. We use inverse abstractions to automatically extract simple control laws and compact representations for pre-images corresponding to unsafe outputs. We illustrate that the extracted abstractions are interpretable and can be used for analyzing complex properties.