Federated Learning

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Federated Learning is an advanced machine learning technique that allows multiple decentralized devices or servers to collaboratively train a shared model without sharing their raw data with a central server. Instead, each participant trains the model locally on its own data and only shares model updates (like gradients or weights), which are then aggregated centrally.

🔍 What Is Federated Learning?

  • Goal: Train AI models on data distributed across many devices (smartphones, hospitals, IoT devices) while keeping the data private and secure.

  • Key Benefit: Enhances privacy and data security by not transferring sensitive raw data out of its original location.

  • Example: Predictive text models on smartphones improve from users’ typing habits without uploading all their texts.



⚙️ How Federated Learning Works (Simplified)

  1. Initialization: Central server sends the current global model to all participating devices.

  2. Local Training: Each device trains the model locally using its own data.

  3. Update Sharing: Devices send updated model parameters (not raw data) back to the central server.

  4. Aggregation: The server aggregates all updates (e.g., averaging) to create a new global model.

  5. Repeat: The new global model is redistributed, and the cycle continues until the model converges.

🏥 Applications in Healthcare

  • Hospitals train diagnostic AI models on their own patient data without sharing sensitive information.

  • Enables cross-institution collaboration while preserving HIPAA or GDPR compliance.

  • Useful for rare disease detection where data is scattered across many sites.

🔐 Privacy and Security Advantages

  • Data never leaves the device or local site.

  • Reduces risk of data breaches and leaks.

  • Supports differential privacy and secure aggregation techniques to further protect updates.

🚧 Challenges

  • Communication overhead: Frequent model updates require efficient data transfer.

  • Heterogeneous data: Data across devices may be unbalanced or non-IID (not identically distributed).

  • Computation constraints: Devices may have limited processing power.

  • Aggregation robustness: Handling unreliable or malicious participants.

📈 Why It Matters

  • Enables AI innovation without compromising sensitive data.

  • Empowers edge devices and organizations to participate in AI development.

  • Bridges privacy with collaboration, crucial in sectors like healthcare, finance, and mobile apps.