让大模型同时具备快速适应和稳定记忆,避免遗忘与性能下降。
Learning, Fast and Slow: Towards LLMs That Adapt Continually

- 用快慢双学习机制:固定参数为慢学习,优化上下文为快学习。
- 快慢训练比纯参数微调少3倍样本量,且最终性能更高。
- 适合需要持续学习新任务的场景,如智能助手、个性化推荐。
大型语言模型(LLM)通常通过更新参数(如强化学习)来适应下游任务,但这会导致灾难性遗忘和可塑性丧失。相比之下,固定参数的上下文学习可快速适应任务需求(如提示优化),但难以达到参数更新的性能上限。本文提出一种快-慢学习框架,将模型参数视为‘慢’权重,优化上下文作为‘快’权重。快权重通过文本反馈吸收任务信息,使慢权重更接近基础模型,保持通用推理能力。快-慢训练(FST)在多个推理任务中相比仅使用慢学习(强化学习)提升至多3倍样本效率,且达到更高性能极限。此外,FST模型与基线模型的KL散度降低达70%,显著减少灾难性遗忘,保留更强可塑性:完成一项任务后,其对后续任务的适应能力优于仅参数训练模型。在连续学习场景下,当任务领域动态变化时,FST仍能持续学习新任务,而参数仅更新的模型则停滞不前。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Large language models (LLMs) are trained for downstream tasks by updating their parameters (e.g., via RL). However, updating parameters forces them to absorb task-specific information, which can result in catastrophic forgetting and loss of plasticity. In contrast, in-context learning with fixed LLM parameters can cheaply and rapidly adapt to task-specific requirements (e.g., prompt optimization), but cannot by itself typically match the performance gains available through updating LLM parameters. There is no good reason for restricting learning to being in-context or in-weights. Moreover, humans also likely learn at different time scales (e.g., System 1 vs 2). To this end, we introduce a fast-slow learning framework for LLMs, with model parameters as "slow" weights and optimized context as "fast" weights. These fast "weights" can learn from textual feedback to absorb the task-specific information, while allowing slow weights to stay closer to the base model and persist general reasoning behaviors. Fast-Slow Training (FST) is up to 3x more sample-efficient than only slow learning (RL) across reasoning tasks, while consistently reaching a higher performance asymptote. Moreover, FST-trained models remain closer to the base LLM (up to 70% less KL divergence), resulting in less catastrophic forgetting than RL-training. This reduced drift also preserves plasticity: after training on one task, FST trained models adapt more effectively to a subsequent task than parameter-only trained models. In continual learning scenarios, where task domains change on the fly, FST continues to acquire each new task while parameter-only RL stalls.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。