arXiv Machine Learning By Jiwon Jang, Kisu Yang, Heuiseok Lim, Hyunwoo Park

Flat Score, Amplified Failures: How the Error Budget Masks Damage in Quantized LLM Agents

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arXiv:2607. 27275v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Post-training quantization to 4-bit weights is widely reported to be nearly lossless.

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arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 2

The Structure of Quantization Damage in LLMs: Why the Next Bit Should Be Spent Globally

The paper investigates where post‑training quantization (PTQ) harms large language models (LLMs) and how to best allocate a limited precision budget. By causally raising each layer to 8‑bit precision across nine open‑weight models, the authors find that quantization damage is diffuse rather than concentrated in specific task circuits or weight statistics, and that globally refining quantization granularity outperforms selectively protecting the most recoverable layers. They also observe that the residual accuracy loss is budget‑limited and that peak recovery locations correlate with architecture within families but not across families.

By Jundong Hu, Shekar Ramachandran