Neuro-Symbolic Bi-Directional Translation - Deep Learning Explainability for Climate Tipping Point Research

Chace Ashcraft, Jennifer Sleeman, Caroline Tang, Jay Brett, Anand Gnanadesikan

Keywords: neurosymbolic, deep learning, climate tipping points

TL;DR: This paper describes a new neuro-symbolic method that provides a bi-directional translation between scientific questions and programs used by a deep learning method to acquire answers to the posed scientific questions.

Abstract: In recent years, there has been an increase in using deep learning for climate and weather modeling. Though results have been impressive, explainability and interpretability of deep learning models are still a challenge. A third wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which includes logic and reasoning, has been described as a way to address these issues. Neuro-symbolic AI is a key component of this integration of logic and reasoning with deep learning. In this work we propose a neuro-symbolic approach called Neuro-Symbolic Question-Answer Program Translator, or NS-QAPT, to address explainability and interpretability for deep learning climate simulation, applied to climate tipping point discovery. The NS-QAPT method includes a bidirectional encoder-decoder architecture that translates between domain-specific questions and executable programs used to direct the climate simulation, acting as a bridge between climate scientists and deep learning models. We show early compelling results of this translation method and introduce a domain-specific language and associated executable programs for a commonly known tipping point, the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).