arXiv:2505.23247cs.LGcs.AI2025-05被引 2

通过提升奖励方差加速大模型对齐训练,效果显著。

Accelerating RLHF Training with Reward Variance Increase

  • 设计新奖励调整方法,可证明性地增大奖励方差。
  • 提出O(n log n)算法求解非凸优化问题,实现全局最优。
  • 集成到GRPO中形成GRPOVI,适合追求高效对齐训练的研究者。

基于人类反馈的强化学习(RLHF)是确保大语言模型在后训练阶段与人类价值观对齐的关键技术。已有研究表明,初始策略模型的更高奖励方差有助于加快RLHF训练。受此启发,我们提出一种实用的奖励调整模型,可在保持相对偏好和奖励期望的前提下,理论保证增加奖励方差。该方法引出一个非凸优化问题,一般情况下为NP-hard。为此,我们设计了一种新颖的O(n log n)算法,通过显式刻画可行集的极值点,找到全局最优解。作为重要应用,我们将该模型自然融入GRPO算法,得到更高效的奖励方差增强型GRPO(GRPOVI)算法。有趣的是,该方法间接解释了DeepSeek-R1中基于规则奖励的GRPO为何有效。实验表明,相较原始GRPO,GRPOVI能显著提升训练效率。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) is an essential technique for ensuring that large language models (LLMs) are aligned with human values and preferences during the post-training phase. As an effective RLHF approach, group relative policy optimization (GRPO) has demonstrated success in many LLM-based applications. However, efficient GRPO-based RLHF training remains a challenge. Recent studies reveal that a higher reward variance of the initial policy model leads to faster RLHF training. Inspired by this finding, we propose a practical reward adjustment model to accelerate RLHF training by provably increasing the reward variance and preserving the relative preferences and reward expectation. Our reward adjustment method inherently poses a nonconvex optimization problem, which is NP-hard to solve in general. To overcome the computational challenges, we design a novel $O(n \log n)$ algorithm to find a global solution of the nonconvex reward adjustment model by explicitly characterizing the extreme points of the feasible set. As an important application, we naturally integrate this reward adjustment model into the GRPO algorithm, leading to a more efficient GRPO with reward variance increase (GRPOVI) algorithm for RLHF training. As an interesting byproduct, we provide an indirect explanation for the empirical effectiveness of GRPO with rule-based reward for RLHF training, as demonstrated in DeepSeek-R1. Experiment results demonstrate that the GRPOVI algorithm can significantly improve the RLHF training efficiency compared to the original GRPO algorithm.

RLHF强化学习大模型对齐

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