Automated machine learning with interpretation: A systematic review of methodologies and applications in healthcare

Abstract

Machine learning (ML) has achieved substantial success in performing healthcare tasks in which the configuration of every part of the ML pipeline relies heavily on technical knowledge. To help professionals with borderline expertise to better use ML techniques, Automated ML (AutoML) has emerged as a prospective solution. However, most models generated by AutoML are black boxes that are challenging to comprehend and deploy in healthcare settings. We conducted a systematic review to examine AutoML with interpretation systems for healthcare. We searched four databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus) complemented with seven prestigious ML conferences (AAAI, ACL, ICLR, ICML, IJCAI, KDD, and NeurIPS) that reported AutoML with interpretation for healthcare before September 1, 2023. We included 118 articles related to AutoML with interpretation in healthcare. First, we illustrated AutoML techniques used in the included publications, including automated data preparation, automated feature engineering, and automated model development, accompanied by a real-world case study to demonstrate the advantages of AutoML over classic ML. Then, we summarized interpretation methods: feature interaction and importance, data dimensionality reduction, intrinsically interpretable models, and knowledge distillation and rule extraction. Finally, we detailed how AutoML with interpretation has been used for six major data types: image, free text, tabular data, signal, genomic sequences, and multi-modality. To some extent, AutoML with interpretation provides effortless development and improves users' trust in ML in healthcare settings. In future studies, researchers should explore automated data preparation, seamless integration of automation and interpretation, compatibility with multi-modality, and utilization of foundation models.