Data-Free Metrics Don't Work: The Missing Invariance Under Functionally Preserving Reparameterisations

arXiv:2611.15621v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Data-free methods for analysing and understanding the layers of neural networks offer many metrics for quantifying notions of 'strong' versus 'weak' layers, with the promise of increased interpretability. In particular, random matrix theory (RMT) offers data-free metrics that claim predictive power over the quality of pre-trained models at a layerwise precision and the ability to identify model pathologies, indicating a unique relationship with generalisation. As a result, metrics from RMT are championed for pre-training optimisation strategies and post-training compression. We establish that RMT-based metrics are unrelated to performance or training by showing that functionally preserving reparametrisations of a pre-trained model can have arbitrary metrics. We show this across a range of architectures and scales. To create functionally preserving reparametrisations, we exploit the well-established phenomenon of criticality: some layers can be re-initialised or re-randomised without affecting the functional behaviour of the model -- they are called robust -- while others cannot -- they are called critical. Re-initialising or re-randomising robust layers provides functionally preserving reparametrisations for which RMT-based metrics are arbitrary. Moreover, we show that relationships between metrics offered by RMT are spuriously related to generalisation. We conclude by showing that if many pre-trained models have data-free metrics in a 'good' range, it is, in part, dependent on model initialisation. Project page available at: https://gmw99.github.io/data-free-metrics-dont-work