Emergent Specialization: Rare Token Neurons in Language Models
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | |
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| _version_ | 1866910962611650560 |
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| author | Liu, Jing Wang, Haozheng Li, Yueheng |
| author_facet | Liu, Jing Wang, Haozheng Li, Yueheng |
| contents | Large language models struggle with representing and generating rare tokens despite their importance in specialized domains. In this study, we identify neuron structures with exceptionally strong influence on language model's prediction of rare tokens, termed as rare token neurons, and investigate the mechanism for their emergence and behavior. These neurons exhibit a characteristic three-phase organization (plateau, power-law, and rapid decay) that emerges dynamically during training, evolving from a homogeneous initial state to a functionally differentiated architecture. In the activation space, rare token neurons form a coordinated subnetwork that selectively co-activates while avoiding co-activation with other neurons. This functional specialization potentially correlates with the development of heavy-tailed weight distributions, suggesting a statistical mechanical basis for emergent specialization. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_12822 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Emergent Specialization: Rare Token Neurons in Language Models Liu, Jing Wang, Haozheng Li, Yueheng Artificial Intelligence Large language models struggle with representing and generating rare tokens despite their importance in specialized domains. In this study, we identify neuron structures with exceptionally strong influence on language model's prediction of rare tokens, termed as rare token neurons, and investigate the mechanism for their emergence and behavior. These neurons exhibit a characteristic three-phase organization (plateau, power-law, and rapid decay) that emerges dynamically during training, evolving from a homogeneous initial state to a functionally differentiated architecture. In the activation space, rare token neurons form a coordinated subnetwork that selectively co-activates while avoiding co-activation with other neurons. This functional specialization potentially correlates with the development of heavy-tailed weight distributions, suggesting a statistical mechanical basis for emergent specialization. |
| title | Emergent Specialization: Rare Token Neurons in Language Models |
| topic | Artificial Intelligence |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.12822 |