多模型合成数据虽提效,却让模型更易被越狱,反而降低安全性能。
More is Less: The Pitfalls of Multi-Model Synthetic Preference Data in DPO Safety Alignment
- 用多模型生成偏好数据,提升通用任务表现但削弱安全防御。
- 使用更强模型生成优选响应时,越狱攻击成功率飙升至78%以上。
- 仅靠自生成数据训练更安全,适合追求模型可靠性的研究者。
大语言模型(LLMs)对齐人类价值观是后训练的关键步骤。直接偏好优化(DPO)作为强化学习人类反馈(RLHF)的简化替代方案,展现出良好效果。合成偏好数据因成本低、质量高,常用于单模型或跨模型生成偏好样本。然而本研究发现:尽管多模型数据在通用任务(如ARC、Hellaswag、MMLU、TruthfulQA、Winogrande)上提升性能,却显著加剧奖励劫持风险,在越狱提示下导致更高攻击成功率(ASR)。尤其当使用更强模型(如GPT-4o)生成优选响应,而目标模型自动生成拒选响应时,安全表现急剧恶化。相比之下,仅用目标模型自身生成正负样本的单模型配置,在安全性上明显更优。实验表明,多模型数据中正负样本具有高度线性可分性,使模型可利用表面线索而非内化深层安全约束。研究在Llama、Mistral和Qwen系列模型上均验证该现象。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Aligning large language models (LLMs) with human values is an increasingly critical step in post-training. Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) has emerged as a simple, yet effective alternative to reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). Synthetic preference data with its low cost and high quality enable effective alignment through single- or multi-model generated preference data. Our study reveals a striking, safety-specific phenomenon associated with DPO alignment: Although multi-model generated data enhances performance on general tasks (ARC, Hellaswag, MMLU, TruthfulQA, Winogrande) by providing diverse responses, it also tends to facilitate reward hacking during training. This can lead to a high attack success rate (ASR) when models encounter jailbreaking prompts. The issue is particularly pronounced when employing stronger models like GPT-4o or larger models in the same family to generate chosen responses paired with target model self-generated rejected responses, resulting in dramatically poorer safety outcomes. Furthermore, with respect to safety, using solely self-generated responses (single-model generation) for both chosen and rejected pairs significantly outperforms configurations that incorporate responses from stronger models, whether used directly as chosen data or as part of a multi-model response pool. We demonstrate that multi-model preference data exhibits high linear separability between chosen and rejected responses, which allows models to exploit superficial cues rather than internalizing robust safety constraints. Our experiments, conducted on models from the Llama, Mistral, and Qwen families, consistently validate these findings.
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