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arXiv · 1403.7752

Auto-encoders: reconstruction versus compression

Yann Ollivier
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Abstract

We discuss the similarities and differences between training an auto-encoder to minimize the reconstruction error, and training the same auto-encoder to compress the data via a generative model. Minimizing a codelength for the data using an auto-encoder is equivalent to minimizing the reconstruction error plus some correcting terms which have an interpretation as either a denoising or contractive property of the decoding function. These terms are related but not identical to those used in denoising or contractive auto-encoders [Vincent et al. 2010, Rifai et al. 2011]. In particular, the codelength viewpoint fully determines an optimal noise level for the denoising criterion.

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Yann Ollivier. 2014-03-30. Auto-encoders: reconstruction versus compression. https://arxiv.org/abs/1403.7752

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