# Robust Adversarial Quantification via Conflict-Aware Evidential Deep Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05937 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.05937/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 27 of its 58 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 6 Jun 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 27 of 27)

- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [GPT-4 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08774/) (2023)
- [On Calibration of Modern Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.04599/) (2017)
- [Dropout as a Bayesian Approximation: Representing Model Uncertainty in Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.02142/) (2015)
- [Fashion-MNIST: a Novel Image Dataset for Benchmarking Machine Learning Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.07747/) (2017)
- [Simple and Scalable Predictive Uncertainty Estimation using Deep Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.01474/) (2016)
- [What Uncertainties Do We Need in Bayesian Deep Learning for Computer Vision?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.04977/) (2017)
- [Variational Inference: A Review for Statisticians](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1601.00670/) (2016)
- [A Review of Uncertainty Quantification in Deep Learning: Techniques, Applications and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.06225/) (2020)
- [Evidential Deep Learning to Quantify Classification Uncertainty](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.01768/) (2018)
- [Deep Learning for Classical Japanese Literature](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01718/) (2018)
- [Simple and Principled Uncertainty Estimation with Deterministic Deep Learning via Distance Awareness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.10108/) (2020)
- [OpenOOD: Benchmarking Generalized Out-of-Distribution Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.07242/) (2022)
- [Posterior Network: Uncertainty Estimation without OOD Samples via Density-Based Pseudo-Counts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.09239/) (2020)
- [Bayesian Neural Networks: An Introduction and Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.12024/) (2020)
- [High-Quality Prediction Intervals for Deep Learning: A Distribution-Free, Ensembled Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.07167/) (2018)
- [Priors in Bayesian Deep Learning: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.06868/) (2021)
- [DeepWeeds: A Multiclass Weed Species Image Dataset for Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.05726/) (2018)
- [Uncertainty Estimation by Fisher Information-based Evidential Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.02045/) (2023)
- [Reliable Conflictive Multi-View Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.16897/) (2024)
- [Evaluating Robustness of Predictive Uncertainty Estimation: Are Dirichlet-based Models Reliable?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.14986/) (2020)
- [Post-hoc Uncertainty Learning using a Dirichlet Meta-Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.07359/) (2022)
- [Learn to Accumulate Evidence from All Training Samples: Theory and Practice](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.11113/) (2023)
- [Quantification of Uncertainty with Adversarial Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03217/) (2023)
- [Uncertainty Estimation by Density Aware Evidential Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.08754/) (2024)
- [Make Me a BNN: A Simple Strategy for Estimating Bayesian Uncertainty from Pre-trained Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.15297/) (2023)
- [Robust Uncertainty Quantification Using Conformalised Monte Carlo Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.09647/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [AEGIS: A Semantic GAN and Evidential Learning Frameworkfor Robust Adversarial Detection in Vision Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.28416/) (2026)
- [Robust Evidential Learning Through Latent Consistency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.01384/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Reliability of deep learning models is critical for deployment in high-stakes applications, where out-of-distribution or adversarial inputs may lead to detrimental outcomes. Evidential Deep Learning, an efficient paradigm for uncertainty quantification, models predictions as Dirichlet distributions of a single forward pass. However, EDL is particularly vulnerable to adversarially perturbed inputs, making overconfident errors. Conflict-aware Evidential Deep Learning~mbox(C-EDL) is a lightweight post-hoc uncertainty quantification approach that mitigates these issues, enhancing adversarial and OOD robustness without retraining. C-EDL generates diverse, task-preserving transformations per input and quantifies representational disagreement to calibrate uncertainty estimates when needed. C-EDL's conflict-aware prediction adjustment improves detection of OOD and adversarial inputs, maintaining high in-distribution accuracy and low computational overhead. Our experimental evaluation shows that C-EDL significantly outperforms state-of-the-art EDL variants and competitive baselines, achieving substantial reductions in coverage for OOD data (up to ≈55%) and adversarial data (up to ≈90%), across a range of datasets, attack types, and uncertainty metrics.