{"about":{"site":"https://codewithpapers.app","non_affiliation":"Code with Papers and Syntology are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Papers with Code, Meta, or the pwc-archive mirror.","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licence_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode","attribution":"https://codewithpapers.app/attribution","modified":"archive material modified by Syntology; see the attribution page"},"url":"/paper/is-disentanglement-all-you-need-comparing","title":"Is Disentanglement all you need? Comparing Concept-based & Disentanglement Approaches","arxiv_id":"2104.06917","date":"2021-04-14","proceeding":null,"authors":["Dmitry Kazhdan","Botty Dimanov","Helena Andres Terre","Mateja Jamnik","Pietro Liò","Adrian Weller"],"abstract":"Concept-based explanations have emerged as a popular way of extracting human-interpretable representations from deep discriminative models. At the same time, the disentanglement learning literature has focused on extracting similar representations in an unsupervised or weakly-supervised way, using deep generative models. Despite the overlapping goals and potential synergies, to our knowledge, there has not yet been a systematic comparison of the limitations and trade-offs between concept-based explanations and disentanglement approaches. In this paper, we give an overview of these fields, comparing and contrasting their properties and behaviours on a diverse set of tasks, and highlighting their potential strengths and limitations. In particular, we demonstrate that state-of-the-art approaches from both classes can be data inefficient, sensitive to the specific nature of the classification/regression task, or sensitive to the employed concept representation.","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.06917v1","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2104.06917v1.pdf","source":{"archive":"pwc-archive (Hugging Face), CC BY-SA 4.0","snapshot":"2025-07-28","licence_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode","row_kind":"abstracts"},"code_links":[{"paper_slug":"is-disentanglement-all-you-need-comparing","repo_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","is_official":1,"mentioned_in_paper":1,"mentioned_in_github":0,"framework":"tf","reach":{"status":"ok","spdx":"MIT"}}],"tasks":[{"task_slug":"all","task_name":"All"},{"task_slug":"disentanglement","task_name":"Disentanglement"}],"methods":[],"datasets_introduced":[],"methods_introduced":[],"results":[],"syntology":{"syntology_url":"https://syntology.ai/paper/2104.06917","atlas_url":"https://app.syntology.ai/?focus=2104.06917","mcp":{"get_harvested_code_for_paper":{"arxiv_id":"2104.06917"}},"developers":"https://syntology.ai/developers","read_at":"2026-09-25T09:33:49+00:00","read_at_is":"when the build read Syntology's graph, not when any sample ran","claim":"Per-sample execution status on synthesized fixtures; not a correctness claim about the paper. Samples come from repositories linked to the paper, official or community; repo_kind says which.","repos":[{"provenance":"external:paperswithcode_snapshot_2025-07-28","url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","reach":{"status":"ok","spdx":"MIT"}}],"summary":{"unverified":19},"by_repo_kind":{"official":{"samples":19,"ran":0,"repositories":1}},"repo_kind_vocabulary":{"official":"The archive marks this repository official for the paper","named_in_paper":"The archive records that the paper mentions this repository; it is not marked official","listed":"In the archive's code links for this paper, not marked official and not recorded as mentioned in the paper","found_in_text":"Syntology found this repository in the paper's own text; whether it is the authors' implementation is not asserted","community":"Not in the archive's code links for this paper; a community repository Syntology harvested"},"n_pointer_only_for_licence":0,"samples":[{"code_sha256_prefix":"f859bf3dd114e7d7","entry":"built_task_fn","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/latentFactorData.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/latentFactorData.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"f859bf3dd114e7d7"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"b19d09ea8a8e0374","entry":"cardinality_encoding","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/dSprites.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/dSprites.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"b19d09ea8a8e0374"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"b3d3a0d10f9d6c5f","entry":"compute_activation_per_layer","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/methods/CME/ItCModel.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/methods/CME/ItCModel.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"b3d3a0d10f9d6c5f"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"d9c290aa08862671","entry":"flatten_activations","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/methods/CME/ItCModel.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/methods/CME/ItCModel.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"d9c290aa08862671"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"794a85c6f0e9d261","entry":"get_all_concepts","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/cars3D.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/cars3D.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"794a85c6f0e9d261"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"baf0160539f306cc","entry":"get_category_full","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/smallNorb.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/smallNorb.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"baf0160539f306cc"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"db1bb50b81c139cb","entry":"get_elevation_full","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/cars3D.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/cars3D.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"db1bb50b81c139cb"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"0b50f14e6d4b1ad7","entry":"get_latent_bases","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/dataset_utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/dataset_utils.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"0b50f14e6d4b1ad7"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"58f491becc62bed0","entry":"get_model","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/utils/model_loader.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/utils/model_loader.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"58f491becc62bed0"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"17598bb41881ef43","entry":"get_shape_full","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/dSprites.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/dSprites.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"17598bb41881ef43"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"54b1d202a35ed398","entry":"get_shape_full","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/shapes3D.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/shapes3D.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"54b1d202a35ed398"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"1e0aa241637e9968","entry":"get_shape_small_skip","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/shapes3D.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/shapes3D.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"1e0aa241637e9968"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"1fa117d288391f24","entry":"get_task_data","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/latentFactorData.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/latentFactorData.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"1fa117d288391f24"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"681a89569c3f3cb2","entry":"latent_to_index","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/dataset_utils.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/dataset_utils.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"681a89569c3f3cb2"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"ed967be24bf64400","entry":"load_dataset_paths","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/load_paths.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/load_paths.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"ed967be24bf64400"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"bca977322866f5f2","entry":"load_mesh","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/cars3D.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/cars3D.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"bca977322866f5f2"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"7bde78aa9a7f31ce","entry":"produce_bottleneck","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/methods/CBM/CBModel.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/methods/CBM/CBModel.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"7bde78aa9a7f31ce"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"cf5d142e3d671d42","entry":"small_skip_ranges_filter_fn","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/dSprites.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/dSprites.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"cf5d142e3d671d42"}},{"code_sha256_prefix":"72718db40bbd6986","entry":"small_skip_ranges_filter_fn","repo":"dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai","repo_kind":"official","path":"concepts_xai/datasets/shapes3D.py","file_url":"https://github.com/dmitrykazhdan/concept-based-xai/blob/HEAD/concepts_xai/datasets/shapes3D.py","link_basis":"first_harvest_node","language":"python","status":"unverified","verification_level":0,"contract_check":null,"metamorphic_tier":null,"behaviour_fingerprint":false,"licence":"MIT","inline_ok":true,"mcp_get_code":{"code_sha256":"72718db40bbd6986"}}]},"arxiv_metadata":null,"syntology_extracted_results":null}