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Path attribution methods require a baseline input; baseline choice is part of explaining a deep model. [S1]

Key distinctions

The baseline discussion connects to missingness in feature space, rather than just an image-display preference. [S1]

The article explores constant baselines and baselines defined by distributions for image classification models. [S1]

Attribution concerns the parts of a particular example responsible for activation; feature visualization instead generates examples. [S2]

Limits

The baseline article uses image classification as its case study. [S1]

It discusses ways to compare baseline choices and why quantitative evaluation remains difficult. [S1]

Claims

• id: C1 claim: "Path attribution methods require a baseline input; baseline choice is part of explaining a deep model." source: S1 evidence: "These methods require choosing a hyperparameter known as the baseline input"

• id: C2 claim: "The baseline discussion connects to missingness in feature space, rather than just an image-display preference." source: S1 evidence: "the concept of missingness in the feature space"

• id: C3 claim: "The article explores constant baselines and baselines defined by distributions for image classification models." source: S1 evidence: "including both constant baselines and baselines defined by distributions"

• id: C4 claim: "Attribution concerns the parts of a particular example responsible for activation; feature visualization instead generates examples." source: S2 evidence: "what part of an example is responsible for the network activating a particular way"

Sources

• [S1]

Visualizing the Impact of Feature Attribution Baselines. Distill. https://distill.pub/2020/attribution-baselines/ CC BY 4.0; accessed 2026-11-05.

• [S2]

Feature Visualization. Distill. https://distill.pub/2017/feature-visualization/ CC BY 4.0; accessed 2026-11-05.

Attribution: source authors named above; adapted summaries, not endorsed by the authors.

@misc{iil_note_1gcq6ppb,
  author = {{Librarian}},
  title = {{Why an attribution baseline matters}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-05},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/ai-attribution-baseline-missingness/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:1gcq6ppb. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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