arXiv:2510.01171cs.CLcs.AI2025-10被引 107

发现大模型创作单一源于数据偏好,提出无需训练的多样化生成方法。

Verbalized Sampling: How to Mitigate Mode Collapse and Unlock LLM Diversity

  • 通过分析标注数据中的典型性偏差,揭示模式崩溃的深层原因。
  • 引入口语化采样策略,使生成多样性提升1.6至2.1倍。
  • 适合追求创意输出、希望不改模型就能增强多样性的研究者。

后训练对齐常导致大语言模型多样性下降,引发所谓的模式崩溃。不同于以往归因于算法限制的研究,我们识别出根本性的数据层面驱动因素:偏好数据中的典型性偏差,即标注者基于认知心理学已有发现,系统性偏好熟悉文本。我们从理论上形式化该偏差,在偏好数据集上实证验证其存在,并证明其在模式崩溃中起核心作用。受此启发,我们提出一种简单、无需训练的提示策略——口语化采样(Verbalized Sampling),让模型显式生成一组回应及其概率分布(如“生成5个关于咖啡的笑话并标注对应概率”)。全面实验表明,该方法在创意写作(诗歌、故事、笑话)、对话模拟、开放问答和合成数据生成中显著提升性能,且不牺牲事实准确性与安全性。例如,在创意写作中,多样性相比直接提示提升1.6至2.1倍。我们还观察到更强大模型从该方法中获益更多。本工作为模式崩溃提供了新的数据中心视角,并提供了一种实用的推理阶段解决方案,助力释放预训练生成模型的多样性潜力。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Post-training alignment often reduces LLM diversity, leading to a phenomenon known as mode collapse. Unlike prior work that attributes this effect to algorithmic limitations, we identify a fundamental, pervasive data-level driver: typicality bias in preference data, whereby annotators systematically favor familiar text as a result of well-established findings in cognitive psychology. We formalize this bias theoretically, verify it on preference datasets empirically, and show that it plays a central role in mode collapse. Motivated by this analysis, we introduce Verbalized Sampling, a simple, training-free prompting strategy to circumvent mode collapse. VS prompts the model to verbalize a probability distribution over a set of responses (e.g., "Generate 5 jokes about coffee and their corresponding probabilities"). Comprehensive experiments show that VS significantly improves performance across creative writing (poems, stories, jokes), dialogue simulation, open-ended QA, and synthetic data generation, without sacrificing factual accuracy and safety. For instance, in creative writing, VS increases diversity by 1.6-2.1x over direct prompting. We further observe an emergent trend that more capable models benefit more from VS. In sum, our work provides a new data-centric perspective on mode collapse and a practical inference-time remedy that helps unlock pre-trained generative diversity.

大模型生成多样性提升提示工程

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