Embedding-Bias in Conditional Independence Testing
To test conditional independence of $X$ and $Y$ given a text or an image $Z$, one conditions on an embedding $ψ(Z)$ in place of $Z$. The embedded test is valid if $Z$ is independent of $X$ or of $Y$ given $ψ(Z)$, which cannot be confirmed from data, and when this fails, the rejection probability under the null hypothesis can tend to one. We study this failure, and show that focusing on a specific form of dependence relaxes what the embedding must retain. For a residual correlation test inspired by the Generalised Covariance Measure, validity only requires that the parts of $\mathbb{E}[X \mid Z]$ and $\mathbb{E}[Y \mid Z]$ missed by $\mathbb{E}[X \mid ψ(Z)]$ and $\mathbb{E}[Y \mid ψ(Z)]$ a...
| Authors | Nikolaj Thams, Anton Rask Lundborg |
|---|---|
| Primary category | stat.ML |
| Published | 8 October 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 8 October 2026 |
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