When is the Computation of a Feature Attribution Method Tractable?

Abstract

Feature attribution methods have become essential for explaining machine learning models. Many popular approaches, such as SHAP and Banzhaf values, are grounded in power indices from cooperative game theory, which measure the contribution of features to model predictions. This work studies the computational complexity of power indices beyond SHAP, addressing the conditions under which they can be computed efficiently. We identify a simple condition on power indices that ensures that computation is polynomially equivalent to evaluating expected values, extending known results for SHAP. We also introduce Bernoulli power indices, showing that their computation can be simplified to a constant number of expected value evaluations. Furthermore, we explore interaction power indices that quantify the importance of feature subsets, proving that their computation complexity mirrors that of individual features.