FedLF: Layer-Wise Fair Federated Learning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v38i13.29368Keywords:
ML: Distributed Machine Learning & Federated Learning, ML: Applications, PEAI: Bias, Fairness & EquityAbstract
Fairness has become an important concern in Federated Learning (FL). An unfair model that performs well for some clients while performing poorly for others can reduce the willingness of clients to participate. In this work, we identify a direct cause of unfairness in FL - the use of an unfair direction to update the global model, which favors some clients while conflicting with other clients’ gradients at the model and layer levels. To address these issues, we propose a layer-wise fair Federated Learning algorithm (FedLF). Firstly, we formulate a multi-objective optimization problem with an effective fair-driven objective for FL. A layer-wise fair direction is then calculated to mitigate the model and layer-level gradient conflicts and reduce the improvement bias. We further provide the theoretical analysis on how FedLF can improve fairness and guarantee convergence. Extensive experiments on different learning tasks and models demonstrate that FedLF outperforms the SOTA FL algorithms in terms of accuracy and fairness. The source code is available at https://github.com/zibinpan/FedLF.Downloads
Published
2024-03-24
How to Cite
Pan, Z., Li, C., Yu, F., Wang, S., Wang, H., Tang, X., & Zhao, J. (2024). FedLF: Layer-Wise Fair Federated Learning. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 38(13), 14527-14535. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v38i13.29368
Issue
Section
AAAI Technical Track on Machine Learning IV