Published
Oct 31, 2024
Updated
Oct 31, 2024

Can AI Edit Common Sense?

Commonsense Knowledge Editing Based on Free-Text in LLMs
By
Xiusheng Huang|Yequan Wang|Jun Zhao|Kang Liu

Summary

Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are impressive, but they still struggle with basic common sense. Imagine trying to teach an AI that spilling a drink usually leads to cleaning up the mess. This seemingly simple concept is difficult for LLMs to grasp, making them prone to errors and outdated information. Updating these models with new commonsense knowledge is computationally expensive. Researchers are exploring efficient ways to "edit" an LLM's knowledge base without massive retraining. Traditional methods focus on correcting simple facts, like who the current president is. However, common sense is more nuanced and harder to pin down. A new study introduces a novel approach to editing commonsense knowledge within LLMs. Researchers discovered that, unlike factual knowledge, common sense is distributed throughout the model's "brain," particularly in the MLP and Attention layers. This makes editing more challenging. They developed a method called "Dynamics-aware Editing" (DEM), which pinpoints and modifies the relevant parts of the model responsible for a specific piece of common sense. Initial results on models like GPT-J and LLaMA-2 are promising, showing significant improvements in commonsense reasoning. This research opens exciting possibilities for making LLMs more reliable and aligned with human understanding. While challenges remain in scaling these techniques to larger models, it's a step toward building AI that truly "gets" the world.
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Question & Answers

How does the Dynamics-aware Editing (DEM) method work to modify commonsense knowledge in LLMs?
DEM works by specifically targeting and modifying the MLP and Attention layers where commonsense knowledge is distributed throughout the model's architecture. The process involves: 1) Identifying the relevant neural pathways responsible for specific commonsense reasoning, 2) Making precise modifications to these pathways without disrupting other knowledge, and 3) Validating the changes maintain model stability. For example, when teaching an LLM about liquid spills requiring cleanup, DEM would locate and adjust the specific neural connections that process cause-and-effect relationships related to liquids and their properties, rather than attempting to modify the entire model.
What are the main challenges in teaching common sense to AI systems?
Teaching common sense to AI systems faces several key challenges. First, common sense knowledge is inherently complex and context-dependent, unlike simple factual information. This makes it difficult to encode in a way that AI can understand and apply consistently. Second, common sense reasoning often requires understanding implicit relationships and consequences that humans learn through experience. For example, knowing that a spilled drink needs cleaning up involves understanding physics, cause and effect, and social norms. Finally, updating this knowledge in AI systems traditionally requires extensive retraining, making it resource-intensive and impractical for regular updates.
How can improved AI common sense benefit everyday applications?
Enhanced AI common sense can significantly improve daily applications by making digital assistants more reliable and intuitive. In practical terms, this means virtual assistants could better understand context-dependent requests, provide more relevant recommendations, and offer more natural conversations. For instance, a smart home system could better anticipate needs based on common situations (like automatically suggesting cleanup supplies when detecting a spill), or a virtual assistant could provide more practical and context-aware responses to questions about daily tasks. This advancement could lead to more trustworthy AI systems that better align with human expectations and reasoning patterns.

PromptLayer Features

  1. Testing & Evaluation
  2. DEM's approach to editing commonsense knowledge requires robust testing frameworks to validate improvements in model reasoning
Implementation Details
Set up automated test suites with commonsense reasoning benchmarks, implement A/B testing between original and edited models, track performance metrics across model versions
Key Benefits
• Systematic validation of model improvements • Quantifiable performance tracking • Early detection of reasoning regressions
Potential Improvements
• Expand test case coverage for common sense scenarios • Implement specialized metrics for reasoning tasks • Add automated regression testing pipelines
Business Value
Efficiency Gains
Reduces manual validation effort by 70%
Cost Savings
Minimizes costly deployment of flawed model updates
Quality Improvement
Ensures consistent improvement in model reasoning capabilities
  1. Version Control
  2. Tracking changes to model knowledge and maintaining different versions of edited common sense capabilities
Implementation Details
Create versioned prompts for different common sense scenarios, maintain history of model edits, enable rollback capabilities
Key Benefits
• Traceable history of knowledge modifications • Easy comparison between versions • Safe rollback options
Potential Improvements
• Add metadata for edit tracking • Implement branching for experimental edits • Create visualization tools for version differences
Business Value
Efficiency Gains
50% faster iteration on model improvements
Cost Savings
Reduces rework from failed updates
Quality Improvement
Maintains consistent model performance across versions

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