Restoring Forgotten Knowledge in Non-Exemplar Class Incremental Learning through Test-Time Semantic Evolution

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Main Authors: Lu, Haori, Cao, Xusheng, Huang, Linlan, Wang, Enguang, Yang, Fei, Liu, Xialei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866913749624946688
author Lu, Haori
Cao, Xusheng
Huang, Linlan
Wang, Enguang
Yang, Fei
Liu, Xialei
author_facet Lu, Haori
Cao, Xusheng
Huang, Linlan
Wang, Enguang
Yang, Fei
Liu, Xialei
contents Continual learning aims to accumulate knowledge over a data stream while mitigating catastrophic forgetting. In Non-exemplar Class Incremental Learning (NECIL), forgetting arises during incremental optimization because old classes are inaccessible, hindering the retention of prior knowledge. To solve this, previous methods struggle in achieving the stability-plasticity balance in the training stages. However, we note that the testing stage is rarely considered among them, but is promising to be a solution to forgetting. Therefore, we propose RoSE, which is a simple yet effective method that \textbf{R}est\textbf{o}res forgotten knowledge through test-time \textbf{S}emantic \textbf{E}volution. Specifically designed for minimizing forgetting, RoSE is a test-time semantic drift compensation framework that enables more accurate drift estimation in a self-supervised manner. Moreover, to avoid incomplete optimization during online testing, we derive an analytical solution as an alternative to gradient descent. We evaluate RoSE on CIFAR-100, TinyImageNet, and ImageNet100 datasets, under both cold-start and warm-start settings. Our method consistently outperforms most state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods across various scenarios, validating the potential and feasibility of test-time evolution in NECIL.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_16793
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Restoring Forgotten Knowledge in Non-Exemplar Class Incremental Learning through Test-Time Semantic Evolution
Lu, Haori
Cao, Xusheng
Huang, Linlan
Wang, Enguang
Yang, Fei
Liu, Xialei
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Continual learning aims to accumulate knowledge over a data stream while mitigating catastrophic forgetting. In Non-exemplar Class Incremental Learning (NECIL), forgetting arises during incremental optimization because old classes are inaccessible, hindering the retention of prior knowledge. To solve this, previous methods struggle in achieving the stability-plasticity balance in the training stages. However, we note that the testing stage is rarely considered among them, but is promising to be a solution to forgetting. Therefore, we propose RoSE, which is a simple yet effective method that \textbf{R}est\textbf{o}res forgotten knowledge through test-time \textbf{S}emantic \textbf{E}volution. Specifically designed for minimizing forgetting, RoSE is a test-time semantic drift compensation framework that enables more accurate drift estimation in a self-supervised manner. Moreover, to avoid incomplete optimization during online testing, we derive an analytical solution as an alternative to gradient descent. We evaluate RoSE on CIFAR-100, TinyImageNet, and ImageNet100 datasets, under both cold-start and warm-start settings. Our method consistently outperforms most state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods across various scenarios, validating the potential and feasibility of test-time evolution in NECIL.
title Restoring Forgotten Knowledge in Non-Exemplar Class Incremental Learning through Test-Time Semantic Evolution
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16793