The Rate-Distortion-Deception Tradeoff
Abstract
The problem of finding the optimal compression rate for a given random variable has been traditionally studied under two main constraints: distortion and perception. The distortion constraint enforces the fidelity of our reconstruction with respect to the observed realization of the random variable, while the perception constraint ensures that the reconstruction is close to a sample from the distribution of the random variable of interest. In this work, we explore the possibility of reconstruction, such that the reconstructed sample is still within a desired fidelity level with our original realization of the random variable, but at the same time, it resembles a sample from a different target distribution. We term this criterion as the deception constraint and find the fundamental tradeoffs of rate-distortion and deception.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.25997,
title = {The Rate-Distortion-Deception Tradeoff},
author = {Semih Akkoc and Sahan Liyanaarachchi and Sennur Ulukus and Aylin Yener},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.25997},
year = {2026}
}