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Main Authors: Yang, Hongming, Lin, Shi, Shao, Jun, Lin, Changting, Zhu, Donghai, Han, Meng, Kong, Qinglei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06401
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author Yang, Hongming
Lin, Shi
Shao, Jun
Lin, Changting
Zhu, Donghai
Han, Meng
Kong, Qinglei
author_facet Yang, Hongming
Lin, Shi
Shao, Jun
Lin, Changting
Zhu, Donghai
Han, Meng
Kong, Qinglei
contents Lightweight Large Language Models (LwLLMs) are reduced-parameter, optimized models designed to run efficiently on consumer-grade hardware, offering significant advantages in resource efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and data privacy. However, these models often struggle with limited inference and reasoning capabilities, which restrict their performance on complex tasks and limit their practical applicability. Moreover, existing prompt optimization methods typically rely on extensive manual effort or the meta-cognitive abilities of state-of-the-art LLMs, making them less effective for LwLLMs. To address these challenges, we introduce DeBoP, a new Direct Behavior Optimization Paradigm, original from the Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting technique. Unlike CoT Prompting, DeBoP is an automatic optimization method, which focuses on the optimization directly on the behavior of LwLLMs. In particular, DeBoP transforms the optimization of complex prompts into the optimization of discrete, quantifiable execution sequences using a gradient-free Monte Carlo Tree Search. We evaluate DeBoP on seven challenging tasks where state-of-the-art LLMs excel but LwLLMs generally underperform. Experimental results demonstrate that DeBoP significantly outperforms recent prompt optimization methods on most tasks. In particular, DeBoP-optimized LwLLMs surpass GPT-3.5 on most tasks while reducing computational time by approximately 60% compared to other automatic prompt optimization methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_06401
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Direct Behavior Optimization: Unlocking the Potential of Lightweight LLMs
Yang, Hongming
Lin, Shi
Shao, Jun
Lin, Changting
Zhu, Donghai
Han, Meng
Kong, Qinglei
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Lightweight Large Language Models (LwLLMs) are reduced-parameter, optimized models designed to run efficiently on consumer-grade hardware, offering significant advantages in resource efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and data privacy. However, these models often struggle with limited inference and reasoning capabilities, which restrict their performance on complex tasks and limit their practical applicability. Moreover, existing prompt optimization methods typically rely on extensive manual effort or the meta-cognitive abilities of state-of-the-art LLMs, making them less effective for LwLLMs. To address these challenges, we introduce DeBoP, a new Direct Behavior Optimization Paradigm, original from the Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting technique. Unlike CoT Prompting, DeBoP is an automatic optimization method, which focuses on the optimization directly on the behavior of LwLLMs. In particular, DeBoP transforms the optimization of complex prompts into the optimization of discrete, quantifiable execution sequences using a gradient-free Monte Carlo Tree Search. We evaluate DeBoP on seven challenging tasks where state-of-the-art LLMs excel but LwLLMs generally underperform. Experimental results demonstrate that DeBoP significantly outperforms recent prompt optimization methods on most tasks. In particular, DeBoP-optimized LwLLMs surpass GPT-3.5 on most tasks while reducing computational time by approximately 60% compared to other automatic prompt optimization methods.
title Direct Behavior Optimization: Unlocking the Potential of Lightweight LLMs
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06401