# Quantitative Estimation of Target Task Performance from Unsupervised Pretext Task in Semi/Self-Supervised Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.07299 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.07299/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 34 of its 55 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Aug 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 34)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [A Simple Framework for Contrastive Learning of Visual Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.05709/) (2020)
- [Representation Learning with Contrastive Predictive Coding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.03748/) (2018)
- [Momentum Contrast for Unsupervised Visual Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.05722/) (2019)
- [Emerging Properties in Self-Supervised Vision Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.14294/) (2021)
- [Bootstrap your own latent: A new approach to self-supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.07733/) (2020)
- [Exploring Simple Siamese Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.10566/) (2020)
- [FixMatch: Simplifying Semi-Supervised Learning with Consistency and Confidence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.07685/) (2020)
- [Barlow Twins: Self-Supervised Learning via Redundancy Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.03230/) (2021)
- [Similarity of Neural Network Representations Revisited](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.00414/) (2019)
- [Unsupervised Data Augmentation for Consistency Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.12848/) (2019)
- [Self-Supervised Learning of Pretext-Invariant Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01991/) (2019)
- [Self-supervised Learning: Generative or Contrastive](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.08218/) (2020)
- [Self-supervised Visual Feature Learning with Deep Neural Networks: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.06162/) (2019)
- [Neural Probabilistic Logic Programming in DeepProbLog](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.08194/) (2019)
- [The Neuro-Symbolic Concept Learner: Interpreting Scenes, Words, and Sentences From Natural Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.12584/) (2019)
- [ReMixMatch: Semi-Supervised Learning with Distribution Alignment and Augmentation Anchoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.09785/) (2019)
- [A Semantic Loss Function for Deep Learning with Symbolic Knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.11157/) (2017)
- [Informed Machine Learning -- A Taxonomy and Survey of Integrating Knowledge into Learning Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.12394/) (2019)
- [Zero-shot Recognition via Semantic Embeddings and Knowledge Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.08035/) (2018)
- [Predicting What You Already Know Helps: Provable Self-Supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.01064/) (2020)
- [Towards Inheritable Models for Open-Set Domain Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.04388/) (2020)
- [A Survey on Neural-symbolic Learning Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.08164/) (2021)
- [A Realistic Evaluation of Semi-Supervised Learning for Fine-Grained Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.00679/) (2021)
- [Guillotine Regularization: Why removing layers is needed to improve generalization in Self-Supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.13378/) (2022)
- [Learning with Algorithmic Supervision via Continuous Relaxations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.05651/) (2021)
- [Learning Deductive Reasoning from Synthetic Corpus based on Formal Logic](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07336/) (2023)
- [Subsidiary Prototype Alignment for Universal Domain Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.15909/) (2022)

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

- [Pianist Transformer: Towards Expressive Piano Performance Rendering via Scalable Self-Supervised Pre-Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.02652/) (2025)
- [On the Learnability of Test-Time Adaptation: A Recovery Complexity Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.28057/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The effectiveness of unlabeled data in Semi/Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) depends on appropriate assumptions for specific scenarios, thereby enabling the selection of beneficial unsupervised pretext tasks. However, existing research has paid limited attention to assumptions in SSL, resulting in practical situations where the compatibility between the unsupervised pretext tasks and the target scenarios can only be assessed after training and validation. This paper centers on the assumptions underlying unsupervised pretext tasks and explores the feasibility of preemptively estimating the impact of unsupervised pretext tasks at low cost. Through rigorous derivation, we show that the impact of unsupervised pretext tasks on target performance depends on three factors: assumption learnability with respect to the model, assumption reliability with respect to the data, and assumption completeness with respect to the target. Building on this theory, we propose a low-cost estimation method that can quantitatively estimate the actual target performance. We build a benchmark of over one hundred pretext tasks and demonstrate that estimated performance strongly correlates with the actual performance obtained through large-scale training and validation.