Beyond Federated Learning: Survival-Critical Machine Learning

Drawing on parallels with biological immunity, this paper introduces a new use case for learning at the edge called survival-critical machine learning (SCML). Unlike federated learning, which assumes supervised learning with pre-labeled data, SCML involves semi-supervised learning in streaming settings where labels may need to be obtained at very low network bandwidth and extreme class imbalance. We show that the recently-developed workflow of Live Learning is a good fit for SCML. Starting from a weak bootstrap model, this workflow seamlessly pipelines semi-supervised learning, active learning, and transfer learning, with asynchronous bandwidth-sensitive data transmission for labeling. As improved models evolve at the edge through periodic retraining, the threat detection ability of the SCML system improves. This, in turn, improves the survivability of the host system.