Ghost-Connect Net: A Generalization-Enhanced Guidance For Sparse Deep Networks Under Distribution Shifts

Sparse deep neural networks (DNNs) excel in real-world applications like robotics and computer vision, by reducing computational demands that hinder usability. However, recent studies aim to boost DNN efficiency by trimming redundant neurons or filters based on task relevance, but neglect their adaptability to distribution shifts. We aim to enhance these existing techniques by introducing a companion network, Ghost Connect-Net (GC-Net), to monitor the connections in the original network with distribution generalization advantage. GC-Net's weights represent connectivity measurements between consecutive layers of the original network. After pruning GC-Net, the pruned locations are mapped back to the original network as pruned connections, allowing for the combination of magnitude and connectivity-based pruning methods. Experimental results using common DNN benchmarks, such as CIFAR-10, Fashion MNIST, and Tiny ImageNet show promising results for hybridizing the method, and using GC-Net guidance for later layers of a network and direct pruning on earlier layers. We provide theoretical foundations for GC-Net's approach to improving generalization under distribution shifts.