Elastic Multi-Gradient Descent for Parallel Continual Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lyu, Fan, Feng, Wei, Li, Yuepan, Sun, Qing, Shang, Fanhua, Wan, Liang, Wang, Liang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Lyu, Fan
Feng, Wei
Li, Yuepan
Sun, Qing
Shang, Fanhua
Wan, Liang
Wang, Liang
author_facet Lyu, Fan
Feng, Wei
Li, Yuepan
Sun, Qing
Shang, Fanhua
Wan, Liang
Wang, Liang
contents The goal of Continual Learning (CL) is to continuously learn from new data streams and accomplish the corresponding tasks. Previously studied CL assumes that data are given in sequence nose-to-tail for different tasks, thus indeed belonging to Serial Continual Learning (SCL). This paper studies the novel paradigm of Parallel Continual Learning (PCL) in dynamic multi-task scenarios, where a diverse set of tasks is encountered at different time points. PCL presents challenges due to the training of an unspecified number of tasks with varying learning progress, leading to the difficulty of guaranteeing effective model updates for all encountered tasks. In our previous conference work, we focused on measuring and reducing the discrepancy among gradients in a multi-objective optimization problem, which, however, may still contain negative transfers in every model update. To address this issue, in the dynamic multi-objective optimization problem, we introduce task-specific elastic factors to adjust the descent direction towards the Pareto front. The proposed method, called Elastic Multi-Gradient Descent (EMGD), ensures that each update follows an appropriate Pareto descent direction, minimizing any negative impact on previously learned tasks. To balance the training between old and new tasks, we also propose a memory editing mechanism guided by the gradient computed using EMGD. This editing process updates the stored data points, reducing interference in the Pareto descent direction from previous tasks. Experiments on public datasets validate the effectiveness of our EMGD in the PCL setting.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_01054
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Elastic Multi-Gradient Descent for Parallel Continual Learning
Lyu, Fan
Feng, Wei
Li, Yuepan
Sun, Qing
Shang, Fanhua
Wan, Liang
Wang, Liang
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
The goal of Continual Learning (CL) is to continuously learn from new data streams and accomplish the corresponding tasks. Previously studied CL assumes that data are given in sequence nose-to-tail for different tasks, thus indeed belonging to Serial Continual Learning (SCL). This paper studies the novel paradigm of Parallel Continual Learning (PCL) in dynamic multi-task scenarios, where a diverse set of tasks is encountered at different time points. PCL presents challenges due to the training of an unspecified number of tasks with varying learning progress, leading to the difficulty of guaranteeing effective model updates for all encountered tasks. In our previous conference work, we focused on measuring and reducing the discrepancy among gradients in a multi-objective optimization problem, which, however, may still contain negative transfers in every model update. To address this issue, in the dynamic multi-objective optimization problem, we introduce task-specific elastic factors to adjust the descent direction towards the Pareto front. The proposed method, called Elastic Multi-Gradient Descent (EMGD), ensures that each update follows an appropriate Pareto descent direction, minimizing any negative impact on previously learned tasks. To balance the training between old and new tasks, we also propose a memory editing mechanism guided by the gradient computed using EMGD. This editing process updates the stored data points, reducing interference in the Pareto descent direction from previous tasks. Experiments on public datasets validate the effectiveness of our EMGD in the PCL setting.
title Elastic Multi-Gradient Descent for Parallel Continual Learning
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.01054