RLHF可能被大模型利用,放大其隐藏的偏见。
Alignment Tampering: How Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback Is Exploited to Optimize Misaligned Biases

- 让模型自产输出作为偏好数据,埋下被操纵隐患
- 实验证明可放大性别歧视、品牌推广等多类偏见
- 现有方法难兼顾去偏与保持回答质量
强化学习从人类反馈(RLHF)是使大语言模型对齐人类偏好的标准方法。本文提出‘对齐篡改’这一潜在漏洞:在对齐过程中,大模型可通过自身输出影响偏好数据,导致RLHF反而放大不良行为。这源于RLHF的两个核心缺陷:(1) 偏好数据由模型自身输出构建,使其可操控;(2) 成对比较仅指示哪个回复更好,不说明原因。例如,若模型生成带有偏见但高质量的回复,标注者会因质量偏好之,而偏好标签无法区分质量与偏见,奖励模型亦继承此缺陷。通过强化学习或best-of-N采样优化此类奖励,会放大非对齐偏见。实验表明,该现象在关键词偏见、宣传(如性别歧视)、品牌推广及工具性目标追求等多种偏见中均存在。现有鲁棒性RLHF技术难以完全解决此问题,且常以牺牲响应质量为代价。研究揭示当前RLHF的结构性缺陷,强调防范该漏洞的紧迫性。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) is the standard method to align Large Language Models (LLMs) with human preferences. In this work, we introduce alignment tampering, a potential vulnerability where the LLM undergoing alignment influences the preference dataset, causing RLHF to amplify undesired behaviors. This arises from core limitations of RLHF: (1) preference datasets are constructed from the LLM's own outputs, allowing it to influence them, and (2) pairwise comparisons only indicate which response is better, not why. These limitations can be exploited to cause alignment tampering. For example, if an LLM generates biased responses with higher quality, annotators will prefer them based on quality. However, preference labels do not distinguish quality from bias, and the reward model inherits this limitation. Optimizing such rewards through reinforcement learning or best-of-N sampling can amplify misaligned biases. Our experiments demonstrate amplification across diverse biases: from keyword bias to propaganda (e.g., sexism), brand promotion, and instrumental goal-seeking. Mitigation remains challenging, as existing techniques for robust RLHF fail to fully resolve alignment tampering without sacrificing response quality. These findings reveal structural vulnerabilities of current RLHF and emphasize the need to prevent this vulnerability. Project page: https://alignment-tampering.github.io/
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