arXiv Machine Learning By Kento Kuwataka, Taiji Suzuki

Test time training enhances in-context learning of nonlinear functions

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The paper studies how test‑time training (TTT) improves in‑context learning (ICL) for nonlinear models, focusing on single‑index models where features lie in a hidden low‑dimensional subspace. By applying TTT to single‑layer transformers trained with gradient‑based methods, the authors derive an upper bound on prediction risk and show that TTT allows the model to adapt to both feature vectors and link functions that vary across tasks—something ICL alone struggles to achieve. They also provide a convergence rate indicating that predictive error can approach the noise level as context size and network width increase.

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