强化学习训练的模型更易合并,因冲突少、性能稳。
Enough is as good as a feast: A Comprehensive Analysis of How Reinforcement Learning Mitigates Task Conflicts in LLMs

- 用强化学习训练模型,梯度更新更温和,减少知识覆盖。
- 合并后任务退化率低,5个任务平均性能下降仅12.3%。
- 适合需多任务整合的场景,如智能助手系统开发。
模型合并对整合多个专用大语言模型至关重要。现有研究多关注合并策略,而训练范式(如监督微调SFT与强化学习RL)对合并效果的影响仍不明确。本文系统比较了RL与传统SFT训练模型的合并行为,在五个代表性任务上发现:使用强化学习训练的模型显著降低任务冲突,合并后性能退化更小。通过实证与理论分析,揭示三个关键原因:(1) 强化学习采用在线策略数据,控制梯度更新幅度更小,降低对其他任务知识的覆盖风险;(2) 强化学习优化目标强调“足够就好”,随模型收敛逐步减少冲突参数更新的次数与幅度;(3) 同时优化正负样本,引导模型进入无偏的任务特定参数子空间,提升鲁棒性并进一步避免参数冲突。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Model merging plays a crucial role in consolidating multiple specialized models into a single, unified model, especially in the era of large language models (LLMs). Recent research has primarily focused on developing strategies to enhance merging performance with the trained models, while the impact of training paradigms, such as supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning (RL), on the effectiveness of model merging remains underexplored. In this study, we systematically explore the merging behavior of RL-trained LLMs compared to those trained with traditional SFT. Through comprehensive evaluations across five representative tasks, we find that RL significantly reduces task conflicts and results in less performance degradation after merging, making RL-trained models particularly well-suited for this process. To unearth the reasons behind the superior suitability of RL for model merging, we conduct extensive empirical experiments and theoretical analyses. Our findings highlight three key factors: (1) On-policy training data in RL control the gradient updates in a smaller magnitude, reducing the risk of overwriting existing knowledge for other tasks in the model. (2) The RL optimization objective, which favors ``\textit{enough is as good as a feast}", progressively reduces the magnitude and the number of conflict parameter updates as the model converges. (3) Joint optimization of positive and negative examples in RL steers the model towards an unbiased task-specific parameter subspace, ensuring robust performance while further preventing parameter conflicts.
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