Task Integration Distillation for Object Detectors

Abstract: Knowledge distillation is a widely adopted technique for model lightening. However, the performance of most knowledge distillation methods in the domain of object detection is not satisfactory. Typically, knowledge distillation approaches consider only the classification task among the two sub-tasks of an object detector, largely overlooking the regression task. This oversight leads to a partial understanding of the object detector's comprehensive task, resulting in skewed estimations and potentially adverse effects. Therefore, we propose a knowledge distillation method that addresses both the classification and regression tasks, incorporating a task significance strategy. By evaluating the importance of features based on the output of the detector's two sub-tasks, our approach ensures a balanced consideration of both classification and regression tasks in object detection. Drawing inspiration from real-world teaching processes and the definition of learning condition, we introduce a method that focuses on both key and weak areas. By assessing the value of features for knowledge distillation based on their importance differences, we accurately capture the current model's learning situation. This method effectively prevents the issue of biased predictions about the model's learning reality caused by an incomplete utilization of the detector's outputs.