Unveiling and Consulting Core Experts in Retrieval-Augmented MoE-based LLMs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhou, Xin, Nie, Ping, Guo, Yiwen, Wei, Haojie, Zhang, Zhanqiu, Minervini, Pasquale, Ma, Ruotian, Gui, Tao, Zhang, Qi, Huang, Xuanjing
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Zhou, Xin
Nie, Ping
Guo, Yiwen
Wei, Haojie
Zhang, Zhanqiu
Minervini, Pasquale
Ma, Ruotian
Gui, Tao
Zhang, Qi
Huang, Xuanjing
author_facet Zhou, Xin
Nie, Ping
Guo, Yiwen
Wei, Haojie
Zhang, Zhanqiu
Minervini, Pasquale
Ma, Ruotian
Gui, Tao
Zhang, Qi
Huang, Xuanjing
contents Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) significantly improved the ability of Large Language Models (LLMs) to solve knowledge-intensive tasks. While existing research seeks to enhance RAG performance by retrieving higher-quality documents or designing RAG-specific LLMs, the internal mechanisms within LLMs that contribute to the effectiveness of RAG systems remain underexplored. In this paper, we aim to investigate these internal mechanisms within the popular Mixture-of-Expert (MoE)-based LLMs and demonstrate how to improve RAG by examining expert activations in these LLMs. Our controlled experiments reveal that several core groups of experts are primarily responsible for RAG-related behaviors. The activation of these core experts can signify the model's inclination towards external/internal knowledge and adjust its behavior. For instance, we identify core experts that can (1) indicate the sufficiency of the model's internal knowledge, (2) assess the quality of retrieved documents, and (3) enhance the model's ability to utilize context. Based on these findings, we propose several strategies to enhance RAG's efficiency and effectiveness through expert activation. Experimental results across various datasets and MoE-based LLMs show the effectiveness of our method.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_15438
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unveiling and Consulting Core Experts in Retrieval-Augmented MoE-based LLMs
Zhou, Xin
Nie, Ping
Guo, Yiwen
Wei, Haojie
Zhang, Zhanqiu
Minervini, Pasquale
Ma, Ruotian
Gui, Tao
Zhang, Qi
Huang, Xuanjing
Artificial Intelligence
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) significantly improved the ability of Large Language Models (LLMs) to solve knowledge-intensive tasks. While existing research seeks to enhance RAG performance by retrieving higher-quality documents or designing RAG-specific LLMs, the internal mechanisms within LLMs that contribute to the effectiveness of RAG systems remain underexplored. In this paper, we aim to investigate these internal mechanisms within the popular Mixture-of-Expert (MoE)-based LLMs and demonstrate how to improve RAG by examining expert activations in these LLMs. Our controlled experiments reveal that several core groups of experts are primarily responsible for RAG-related behaviors. The activation of these core experts can signify the model's inclination towards external/internal knowledge and adjust its behavior. For instance, we identify core experts that can (1) indicate the sufficiency of the model's internal knowledge, (2) assess the quality of retrieved documents, and (3) enhance the model's ability to utilize context. Based on these findings, we propose several strategies to enhance RAG's efficiency and effectiveness through expert activation. Experimental results across various datasets and MoE-based LLMs show the effectiveness of our method.
title Unveiling and Consulting Core Experts in Retrieval-Augmented MoE-based LLMs
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.15438