# DREAM: Debugging and Repairing AutoML Pipelines

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.00379 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.00379/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 70 of its 152 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 Dec 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 70)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [EfficientNet: Rethinking Model Scaling for Convolutional Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.11946/) (2019)
- [Delving Deep into Rectifiers: Surpassing Human-Level Performance on ImageNet Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.01852/) (2015)
- [Xception: Deep Learning with Depthwise Separable Convolutions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.02357/) (2016)
- [DARTS: Differentiable Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.09055/) (2018)
- [Neural Architecture Search with Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.01578/) (2016)
- [Learning Transferable Architectures for Scalable Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.07012/) (2017)
- [Efficient Neural Architecture Search via Parameter Sharing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.03268/) (2018)
- [Hyperband: A Novel Bandit-Based Approach to Hyperparameter Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.06560/) (2016)
- [ProxylessNAS: Direct Neural Architecture Search on Target Task and Hardware](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.00332/) (2018)
- [Self-Normalizing Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.02515/) (2017)
- [Quantifying the Carbon Emissions of Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.09700/) (2019)
- [Single Path One-Shot Neural Architecture Search with Uniform Sampling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.00420/) (2019)
- [AutoML: A Survey of the State-of-the-Art](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.00709/) (2019)
- [Large-Scale Evolution of Image Classifiers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.01041/) (2017)
- [DeepXplore: Automated Whitebox Testing of Deep Learning Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.06640/) (2017)
- [Designing Neural Network Architectures using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.02167/) (2016)
- [Searching for A Robust Neural Architecture in Four GPU Hours](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.04465/) (2019)
- [Hyperparameter optimization with approximate gradient](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.02355/) (2016)
- [Neural Architecture Search with Bayesian Optimisation and Optimal Transport](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.07191/) (2018)
- [BANANAS: Bayesian Optimization with Neural Architectures for Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.11858/) (2019)
- [Auto-Sklearn 2.0: Hands-free AutoML via Meta-Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.04074/) (2020)
- [Auto-Keras: An Efficient Neural Architecture Search System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.10282/) (2018)
- [Neural Architecture Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.07233/) (2018)
- [Population Based Augmentation: Efficient Learning of Augmentation Policy Schedules](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.05393/) (2019)
- [DeepGauge: Multi-Granularity Testing Criteria for Deep Learning Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.07519/) (2018)
- [Fast Bayesian Optimization of Machine Learning Hyperparameters on Large Datasets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1605.07079/) (2016)
- [Mixed Precision Quantization of ConvNets via Differentiable Neural Architecture Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.00090/) (2018)
- [Genetic CNN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.01513/) (2017)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Interpretable by Design: MH-AutoML for Transparent and Efficient Android Malware Detection without Compromising Performance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.23314/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Deep Learning models have become an integrated component of modern software systems. In response to the challenge of model design, researchers proposed Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) systems, which automatically search for model architecture and hyperparameters for a given task. Like other software systems, existing AutoML systems suffer from bugs. We identify two common and severe bugs in AutoML, performance bug (i.e., searching for the desired model takes an unreasonably long time) and ineffective search bug (i.e., AutoML systems are not able to find an accurate enough model). After analyzing the workflow of AutoML, we observe that existing AutoML systems overlook potential opportunities in search space, search method, and search feedback, which results in performance and ineffective search bugs. Based on our analysis, we design and implement DREAM, an automatic debugging and repairing system for AutoML systems. It monitors the process of AutoML to collect detailed feedback and automatically repairs bugs by expanding search space and leveraging a feedback-driven search strategy. Our evaluation results show that DREAM can effectively and efficiently repair AutoML bugs.