Tunable MAGMAX: Preference-Aware Model Merging for Continual Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Hiroshima, Kei, Uchida, Kento, Shirakawa, Shinichi
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Hiroshima, Kei
Uchida, Kento
Shirakawa, Shinichi
author_facet Hiroshima, Kei
Uchida, Kento
Shirakawa, Shinichi
contents Continual learning (CL) aims to train models sequentially on multiple tasks while mitigating catastrophic forgetting of previously learned knowledge. Recent advances in large pre-trained models (LPMs) and model merging techniques, such as MAGMAX, have demonstrated effective CL performance by combining task-specific parameters. However, existing methods primarily focus on average performance across all tasks and do not adequately address how to construct models accommodating different deployment environments or varying user preferences. This paper proposes a model merging framework, termed Tunable MAGMAX, which enables preference-aware control of task-specific performance in CL. Our method introduces a preference vector that controls the number of elements selected from each task vector during model merging, allowing us to adjust the merged model performance according to their deployment needs. We further propose a method for automatically constructing appropriate preference vectors by leveraging small amounts of target environment data and datasets from model training tasks, thereby eliminating the need for manual specification. The experimental result on CL benchmark tasks demonstrates that Tunable MAGMAX effectively controls task-wise performance and successfully adapts merged models to various target environments. The proposed Tunable MAGMAX achieves superior or comparable performance to baseline methods, making it a practical solution for deploying CL models to various environments where the preferences of each task performance differ.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_20803
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tunable MAGMAX: Preference-Aware Model Merging for Continual Learning
Hiroshima, Kei
Uchida, Kento
Shirakawa, Shinichi
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Continual learning (CL) aims to train models sequentially on multiple tasks while mitigating catastrophic forgetting of previously learned knowledge. Recent advances in large pre-trained models (LPMs) and model merging techniques, such as MAGMAX, have demonstrated effective CL performance by combining task-specific parameters. However, existing methods primarily focus on average performance across all tasks and do not adequately address how to construct models accommodating different deployment environments or varying user preferences. This paper proposes a model merging framework, termed Tunable MAGMAX, which enables preference-aware control of task-specific performance in CL. Our method introduces a preference vector that controls the number of elements selected from each task vector during model merging, allowing us to adjust the merged model performance according to their deployment needs. We further propose a method for automatically constructing appropriate preference vectors by leveraging small amounts of target environment data and datasets from model training tasks, thereby eliminating the need for manual specification. The experimental result on CL benchmark tasks demonstrates that Tunable MAGMAX effectively controls task-wise performance and successfully adapts merged models to various target environments. The proposed Tunable MAGMAX achieves superior or comparable performance to baseline methods, making it a practical solution for deploying CL models to various environments where the preferences of each task performance differ.
title Tunable MAGMAX: Preference-Aware Model Merging for Continual Learning
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20803