Rule Extraction from Neural Network Using Input Data Ranges Recursively

Neural network is one of the best tools for data mining tasks due to its high accuracy. However, one of the drawbacks of neural network is its black box nature. This limitation makes neural network useless for many applications which require transparency in their decision-making process. Many algorithms have been proposed to overcome this drawback by extracting transparent rules from neural network, but still researchers are in search for algorithms that can generate more accurate and simple rules. Therefore, this paper proposes a rule extraction algorithm named Eclectic Rule Extraction from Neural Network Recursively (ERENNR), with the aim to generate simple and accurate rules. ERENNR algorithm extracts symbolic classification rules from a single-layer feed-forward neural network. The novelty of this algorithm lies in its procedure of analyzing the nodes of the network. It analyzes a hidden node based on data ranges of input attributes with respect to its output and analyzes an output node using logical combination of the outputs of hidden nodes with respect to output class. And finally it generates a rule set by proceeding in a backward direction starting from the output layer. For each rule in the set, it repeats the whole process of rule extraction if the rule satisfies certain criteria. The algorithm is validated with eleven benchmark datasets. Experimental results show that the generated rules are simple and accurate.