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Auteurs principaux: Zhao, Yao, Jun, Kwang-Sung
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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Accès en ligne:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.01581
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author Zhao, Yao
Jun, Kwang-Sung
author_facet Zhao, Yao
Jun, Kwang-Sung
contents Aligning large language models (LLMs) depends on high-quality datasets of human preference labels, which are costly to collect. Although active learning has been studied to improve sample efficiency relative to passive collection, many existing approaches adopt classical experimental design criteria such as G- or D-optimality. These objectives are not tailored to the structure of preference learning, leaving open the design of problem-specific algorithms. In this work, we identify a simple intuition specific to preference learning that calls into question the suitability of these existing design objectives. Motivated by this insight, we propose two active learning algorithms. The first provides the first instance-dependent label complexity guarantee for this setting, and the second is a simple, practical greedy method. We evaluate our algorithm on real-world preference datasets and observe improved sample efficiency compared to existing methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_01581
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nearly Optimal Active Preference Learning and Its Application to LLM Alignment
Zhao, Yao
Jun, Kwang-Sung
Machine Learning
Aligning large language models (LLMs) depends on high-quality datasets of human preference labels, which are costly to collect. Although active learning has been studied to improve sample efficiency relative to passive collection, many existing approaches adopt classical experimental design criteria such as G- or D-optimality. These objectives are not tailored to the structure of preference learning, leaving open the design of problem-specific algorithms. In this work, we identify a simple intuition specific to preference learning that calls into question the suitability of these existing design objectives. Motivated by this insight, we propose two active learning algorithms. The first provides the first instance-dependent label complexity guarantee for this setting, and the second is a simple, practical greedy method. We evaluate our algorithm on real-world preference datasets and observe improved sample efficiency compared to existing methods.
title Nearly Optimal Active Preference Learning and Its Application to LLM Alignment
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.01581