gradientsteg

Gradientsteg is a term that describes a technique for embedding information within the gradients of machine learning models. Instead of hiding data within the model's weights or parameters directly, gradientsteg manipulates the gradients that are calculated during the backpropagation process. This allows for a covert channel to be established, where information can be communicated or watermarked without significantly altering the model's core functionality or performance.

The core idea behind gradientsteg involves subtly modifying the gradient values in a way that is imperceptible to standard model training or evaluation metrics. These modifications are designed to encode specific data bits. For example, a particular pattern in the gradients might represent a '1', while another pattern represents a '0'. When the model is trained or updated using these modified gradients, the embedded information is preserved within the learning process.

Applications of gradientsteg include data watermarking, where ownership or provenance of a trained model can be secretly marked. It can also be used for covert communication between parties involved in model training or deployment, or as a way to embed sensitive metadata within a model that is not intended for public access. The challenge lies in ensuring that the embedded information remains robust to common model alterations, such as fine-tuning or adversarial attacks, while also minimizing any potential degradation in the model's accuracy or generalization capabilities. Research in this area explores various encoding schemes and embedding strategies to optimize these trade-offs.