arXiv:2510.03253cs.LGcs.AI2025-10中稿 · ICLR被引 3

解决长程智能体的决策粒度错配问题,通过分层偏好学习提升复杂任务表现。

Solving the Granularity Mismatch: Hierarchical Preference Learning for Long-Horizon LLM Agents

  • 设计分层偏好框架,融合轨迹、步骤和分组级偏好信号
  • 在三个基准上优于现有最先进方法,显著提升长程任务成功率
  • 双层课程调度机制,从简单到复杂逐步优化子任务能力

大型语言模型作为自主智能体面临日益复杂的长程问题。基于偏好的离线对齐方法(如直接偏好优化,DPO)虽有前景,但存在粒度不匹配难题:轨迹级DPO信号过粗,难以精确定位贡献;步骤级DPO又过于短视,无法捕捉多步行为的价值。为此,本文提出分层偏好学习(HPL),一种在多粒度协同下优化智能体的层级框架。HPL结合轨迹与步骤级DPO以保障全局与局部策略稳定,核心创新在于由双层课程引导的分组级偏好优化。该方法首先将专家轨迹分解为语义一致的动作组,再生成对比性的次优组,实现细粒度子任务层面的偏好学习。同时,引入课程调度器,按组长度(子任务复杂度)与样本难度(优选与非优选动作组间的奖励差距)双轴组织学习过程,由简至繁。实验在三个挑战性智能体基准上验证,HPL显著优于现有最先进方法。分析表明,分层DPO损失有效整合多粒度偏好信号,双层课程是使智能体应对从简单行为到复杂多步序列任务的关键。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Large Language Models (LLMs) as autonomous agents are increasingly tasked with solving complex, long-horizon problems. Aligning these agents via preference-based offline methods like Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) is a promising direction, yet it faces a critical granularity mismatch. Trajectory-level DPO provides a signal that is too coarse for precise credit assignment, while step-level DPO is often too myopic to capture the value of multi-step behaviors. To resolve this challenge, we introduce Hierarchical Preference Learning (HPL), a hierarchical framework that optimizes LLM agents by leveraging preference signals at multiple, synergistic granularities. While HPL incorporates trajectory- and step-level DPO for global and local policy stability, its core innovation lies in group-level preference optimization guided by a dual-layer curriculum. Our approach first decomposes expert trajectories into semantically coherent action groups and then generates contrasting suboptimal groups to enable preference learning at a fine-grained, sub-task level. Then, instead of treating all preference pairs equally, HPL introduces a curriculum scheduler that organizes the learning process from simple to complex. This curriculum is structured along two axes: the group length, representing sub-task complexity, and the sample difficulty, defined by the reward gap between preferred and dispreferred action groups. Experiments on three challenging agent benchmarks show that HPL outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods. Our analyses demonstrate that the hierarchical DPO loss effectively integrates preference signals across multiple granularities, while the dual-layer curriculum is crucial for enabling the agent to solve a wide range of tasks, from simple behaviors to complex multi-step sequences.

长程决策偏好学习分层优化智能体

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