arXiv:2511.00130cs.LG2025-11被引 6

在数据稀缺时,LoRA能高效学新技能又不丢通用能力。

A Comparative Analysis of LLM Adaptation: SFT, LoRA, and ICL in Data-Scarce Scenarios

  • 用低秩适配(LoRA)微调,只改少量参数
  • 相比全量微调,保留更多原始模型能力
  • 适合需要兼顾新技能和通用性的场景

大型语言模型(LLMs)的能力常需针对特定任务调整,以融入新知识或习得新技能。尽管全量微调效果强,但计算成本高且易导致灾难性遗忘,即通用推理能力下降。相比之下,上下文学习(ICL)速度快但受上下文长度限制,参数高效微调(PEFT)方法如低秩适配(LoRA)通过最小化参数变更提供折中方案。然而,灾难性遗忘问题依然存在,使得最佳适应策略难以抉择。本文在数据稀缺场景下对比了监督微调(SFT)、LoRA 和 ICL。结果表明,LoRA在引入新技能的同时对基础模型通用知识影响最小,表现最优;而 SFT 虽擅长技能获取,却极易引发灾难性遗忘;ICL 适用于事实性知识注入,但在复杂技能学习上表现不佳。研究为 LLM 适配策略选择提供了实用框架,明确区分了技能获取与知识整合的差异,厘清了任务性能与通用能力保持之间的权衡。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

The remarkable capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) often need to be tailored for specific applications, requiring the integration of new knowledge or the acquisition of new skills. While full fine-tuning is a powerful adaptation method, it is computationally expensive and can lead to a degradation of general reasoning abilities, a phenomenon known as catastrophic forgetting. A range of alternative techniques exists, each with its own trade-offs. In-Context Learning (ICL) is fast but limited by context length, while Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning (PEFT) methods like Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) offer a middle ground by minimizing parameter changes. However, the challenge of catastrophic forgetting persists, raising questions about the best adaptation strategy for a given task. This paper presents a comparative analysis of Supervised Finetuning (SFT), LoRA, and ICL in data-scarce scenarios. We find that LoRA provides the most effective balance, successfully instilling new skills with minimal impact on the base model's general knowledge. In contrast, while SFT excels at skill acquisition, it is highly susceptible to catastrophic forgetting. ICL is effective for incorporating factual knowledge but struggles with complex skills. Our findings offer a practical framework for selecting an LLM adaptation strategy. We highlight the critical distinction between skill acquisition and knowledge integration, clarify the trade-offs between task-specific performance and the preservation of general capabilities.

模型微调低秩适配灾难性遗忘数据稀缺

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