Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions

Dimensionality reduction (DR) simplifies complex data from genomics, imaging, sensors, and language into interpretable forms that support visualization, clustering, and modeling. Yet widely used methods like principal component analysis, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, uniform manifold...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Aasim Ayaz Wani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2025-07-01
Series:PeerJ Computer Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/cs-3025.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850115045827018752
author Aasim Ayaz Wani
author_facet Aasim Ayaz Wani
author_sort Aasim Ayaz Wani
collection DOAJ
description Dimensionality reduction (DR) simplifies complex data from genomics, imaging, sensors, and language into interpretable forms that support visualization, clustering, and modeling. Yet widely used methods like principal component analysis, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, uniform manifold approximation and projection, and autoencoders are often applied as “black boxes,” neglecting interpretability, fairness, stability, and privacy. This review introduces a unified classification—linear, nonlinear, hybrid, and ensemble approaches—and assesses them against eight core challenges: dimensionality selection, overfitting, instability, noise sensitivity, bias, scalability, privacy risks, and ethical compliance. We outline solutions such as intrinsic dimensionality estimation, robust neighborhood graphs, fairness-aware embeddings, scalable algorithms, and automated tuning. Drawing on case studies from bioinformatics, vision, language, and Internet of Things analytics, we offer a practical roadmap for deploying dimensionality reduction methods that are scalable, interpretable, and ethically sound—advancing responsible artificial intelligence in high-stakes applications.
format Article
id doaj-art-347a6b00cb5e4b5ea07c7381502df4f3
institution OA Journals
issn 2376-5992
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher PeerJ Inc.
record_format Article
series PeerJ Computer Science
spelling doaj-art-347a6b00cb5e4b5ea07c7381502df4f32025-08-20T02:36:41ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ Computer Science2376-59922025-07-0111e302510.7717/peerj-cs.3025Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutionsAasim Ayaz WaniDimensionality reduction (DR) simplifies complex data from genomics, imaging, sensors, and language into interpretable forms that support visualization, clustering, and modeling. Yet widely used methods like principal component analysis, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, uniform manifold approximation and projection, and autoencoders are often applied as “black boxes,” neglecting interpretability, fairness, stability, and privacy. This review introduces a unified classification—linear, nonlinear, hybrid, and ensemble approaches—and assesses them against eight core challenges: dimensionality selection, overfitting, instability, noise sensitivity, bias, scalability, privacy risks, and ethical compliance. We outline solutions such as intrinsic dimensionality estimation, robust neighborhood graphs, fairness-aware embeddings, scalable algorithms, and automated tuning. Drawing on case studies from bioinformatics, vision, language, and Internet of Things analytics, we offer a practical roadmap for deploying dimensionality reduction methods that are scalable, interpretable, and ethically sound—advancing responsible artificial intelligence in high-stakes applications.https://peerj.com/articles/cs-3025.pdfDimensionality reduction (DR)Principal component analysis (PCA)t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE)Uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP)AutoencodersManifold learning
spellingShingle Aasim Ayaz Wani
Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions
PeerJ Computer Science
Dimensionality reduction (DR)
Principal component analysis (PCA)
t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE)
Uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP)
Autoencoders
Manifold learning
title Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions
title_full Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions
title_fullStr Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions
title_full_unstemmed Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions
title_short Comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms: challenges, limitations, and innovative solutions
title_sort comprehensive review of dimensionality reduction algorithms challenges limitations and innovative solutions
topic Dimensionality reduction (DR)
Principal component analysis (PCA)
t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE)
Uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP)
Autoencoders
Manifold learning
url https://peerj.com/articles/cs-3025.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT aasimayazwani comprehensivereviewofdimensionalityreductionalgorithmschallengeslimitationsandinnovativesolutions