Aligning large language models to human preferences is crucial for real-world deployment but frequently incurs an alignment tax, leading to the catastrophic forgetting of pre-trained general capabilit...
The paper introduces BALIGN, a balanced data selection strategy designed to reduce catastrophic forgetting—referred to as the alignment tax—in large language models during preference-based alignment. By analyzing preference optimization gradients, the authors identify three data-centric features that influence parameter drift: the reference model's log-probability margin, token length differences between chosen and rejected responses, and TF‑IDF similarity to general capability corpora. BALIGN aggregates these features into a composite risk score to filter out high-risk preference samples, thereby preserving foundational capabilities while maintaining alignment gains with minimal computational overhead.
arXiv:2607. 03248v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The alignment of large language models with human preferences is commonly achieved through Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback or Direct Preference Optimization.
arXiv:2504. 06659v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Despite advances in Preference Alignment (PA) for Large Language Models (LLMs), mainstream methods like reinforcement learning with human feedback face notable challenges.
arXiv:2509. 26169v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Alignment of large language models remains a central challenge in natural language processing.
arXiv:2504. 07856v4 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Curriculum learning enhances Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) for aligning Large Language Models (LLMs), yet existing methods rely on a one-dimensional view of difficulty.
The paper introduces Collaborative Reward Modeling (CRM), an online framework that uses cross-model peer review and curriculum learning to identify reliable preference pairs for training reward models (RMs). By having two RMs evaluate each other's sample selections and synchronizing their learning progress, CRM reduces the impact of noisy feedback, improving RM generalization by up to 9.94 points on RewardBench under 40% preference noise. The approach also extends to implicit-reward alignment, demonstrating robustness and broad applicability for learning from imperfect feedback.
The paper proposes a method for culturally aligning large language models (LLMs) using soft prompt tuning optimized via Differential Evolution (DE). Unlike traditional fine‑tuning or reinforcement learning, this approach keeps model weights frozen and requires no preference data, instead leveraging aggregated survey scores from Hofstede's Value Survey Module (VSM13). Experiments on four countries and four instruction‑tuned models show that DE‑optimized prompts reduce cultural discrepancy, improve agreement with the World Values Survey, and are preferred in blinded pairwise evaluations by LLM judges.
arXiv:2610.31862v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This article provides an introduction to the mathematical foundations and algorithmic frameworks used to align Large Language Models (LLMs) with huma...
arXiv:2509. 23982v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Preference alignment is a critical step in making Large Language Models (LLMs) useful and aligned with (human) preferences.
InfiFPO is a new preference optimization technique for implicit model fusion that replaces the reference model in Direct Preference Optimization with a fused source model, preserving probability information and avoiding complex vocabulary alignment. By incorporating probability clipping and max‑margin fusion, it aligns a pivot model with human preferences while distilling knowledge from multiple source models. Experiments on 11 benchmarks show that InfiFPO consistently outperforms existing fusion and preference optimization methods, raising Phi‑4’s average score from 79.95 to 83.33 and improving performance in mathematics, coding, and reasoning tasks.
arXiv:2609.06893v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Direct preference optimization DPO is a promising offline approach for aligning large language models (LLMs) due to its simplicity, computational eff...