现有图压缩方法依赖全量训练,效率低且不通用,需重设计。
Position: Graph Condensation Needs a Reset -- Move Beyond Full-dataset Training and Model-Dependence
- 提出摆脱全数据训练和模型依赖的新型图压缩思路
- 现有方法存在计算开销大、泛化性差、评估指标误导等问题
- 适合关注高效可扩展GNN训练的研究者与工业应用者
图神经网络(GNN)在推荐系统、欺诈检测和分子生物学等领域的图数据上表现强大,但其可扩展性正面临真实世界大规模图的挑战。图压缩——生成能保留原始训练性能的小型合成图——被视为有前景的解决方案。然而,主流梯度匹配方法存在根本矛盾:需在全量数据上训练以生成压缩版本,违背了效率初衷。此外,这些方法计算开销高、跨GNN架构泛化能力差,且对特定模型配置极度敏感。更严重的是,社区普遍使用节点压缩比等误导性评估指标,无法反映实际资源节省、压缩开销,也错误适用于神经架构搜索。这些问题非偶然,而是系统性缺陷,阻碍了实质性进展。本文主张对图压缩进行重置,呼吁摆脱全量训练与模型依赖,转向轻量化、架构无关、可实用的新范式。通过识别关键方法论缺陷并提出具体研究方向,旨在推动领域回归压缩的核心承诺:实现可扩展、通用、可用的高效GNN训练。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) are powerful tools for learning from graph-structured data, but their scalability is increasingly strained by the size of real-world graphs in domains like recommender systems, fraud detection, and molecular biology. Graph condensation -- the task of generating a smaller synthetic graph that retains the performance of models trained on the original -- has emerged as a promising solution. However, the dominant approach of gradient matching introduces a fundamental contradiction: it requires training on the full dataset to create the compressed version, thereby undermining the goal of efficiency. Worse still, these methods suffer from high computational overhead, poor generalization across GNN architectures, and brittle reliance on specific model configurations. Equally concerning is the community's reliance on misleading evaluation protocols such as node compression ratios, which fail to reflect true resource savings, condensation overhead, and illusory application to neural architecture search. These shortcomings are not incidental -- they are systemic, and they obstruct meaningful progress. In this position paper, we argue that graph condensation, in its current form, needs a reset. We call for moving beyond full-dataset training and model-dependent design, and instead advocate for methods that are lightweight, architecture-agnostic, and practically deployable. By identifying key methodological flaws and outlining concrete research directions, we aim to reorient the field toward approaches that deliver on the true promise of condensation: efficient, generalizable, and usable GNN training at scale.
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