MIITA: Memory-Induced Inference-Time Adaptation for Continual Learning with Small Language Models
Abstract: Continual learning (CL) is essential for small language models (SLMs) to adapt to evolving real-world needs in resource-constrained deployments. However, directly updating their limited parameter space causes catastrophic forgetting. While memory-based methods naturally address this by decoupling knowledge retention from parameters, existing approaches designed for large language models (LLMs) rely on abundant storage and strong in-context reasoning that SLMs lack. To address these challenges, we propose MIITA, a Memory-Induced Inference-Time Adaptation framework for supervised CL under constrained storage. MIITA stores supervised experiences as compact correction-direction prototypes with semantic anchors, and retrieves them at inference time using semantic and uncertainty-based cues. The retrieved directions are applied through gated temporary hidden-state adaptation, enabling non-destructive reuse of past supervision without backbone updates, prompt extensions, or test-time backpropagation. A local theoretical analysis links this design to first-order loss reduction, uncertainty-guided retrieval, and directional coverage for retaining old-stage knowledge. Extensive experiments across diverse supervised CL settings show that MIITA consistently improves final performance and mitigates forgetting under fixed memory budgets.
Submission history
Access Paper:
Current browse context:
References & Citations
BibTeX formatted citation
arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.
Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.
Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .
Verified source · arXiv.org
Reported by arXiv.org. Open the original for full media and formatting.
More in Research
All newsQFoldAgent: An Autonomous Quantum Optimization Multi-Agent System for Protein Structure Prediction
Hybrid quantum-classical protein structure prediction depends strongly on Hamiltonian penalty weights, yet existing lattice-based workflows typically fix these coefficients by hand and evaluate only very short fragments in simulation. We present QFoldAgent, a closed-loop multi-agent framework for 5-residue tetrahedral-lattice folding in which a design agent proposes sequence-conditioned penalties, a VQE-based quantum-classical pipeline optimizes the resulting Hamiltonian under Qiskit Aer noise, and a feedback agent uses energy-landscape diagnostics and MolProbity validation signals to refine…
Read at arXiv cs.AIConcept-based Visual Counterfactual Explanations with Diffusion Models
Visual counterfactual explanations aim to answer "what minimal change to this image would flip the model's prediction?", and are increasingly important as vision models are deployed in safety-critical domains (e.g., medicine). Existing diffusion-based methods can produce realistic edits, but they rely on external classifiers that must work reliably on noisy images, which makes them fragile and hard to deploy for robust explanations. We introduce C-VCE, a new diffusion framework that builds the classifier directly into the generative model via a concept bottleneck layer, so that counterfactual…
Read at arXiv cs.AISeT-Diff: Towards Semantic Foundation Models for HPC Telemetry and Time-Series
Data centers and their compute nodes require accurate and flexible digital twins capable of modeling the complex interplay of workloads, environmental parameters, and physical metrics. Current machine learning approaches for HPC and its telemetry typically rely on a static subset of anonymous, fixed-position sensor variables tailored to single tasks. Consequently, these models become obsolete when target tasks change or sensor metrics vary. We propose SeT-Diff, the first foundational model for compute node telemetry and time-series. Unlike rigid architectures, our diffusion-based approach con…
Read at arXiv cs.AIDeepLens Diagnosis Agent: Agentic Workflow Design Lets a Small Reasoning Model Compete with Frontier LLMs
Medical diagnosis is a multi-stage process: extract facts, consult knowledge, generate a differential analysis, and select the best diagnosis with explanations. Frontier LLMs are strong generalists, but single-shot prompting often yields brittle diagnostic reasoning. We present the DeepLens Diagnosis Agent, a five-stage harnessing pipeline (combining model capabilities with disciplined process constraints) centered on a small medical reasoning model (JSL Medical Small 7B v2) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). The pipeline enforces structured clinical extraction, disciplined retrieval,…
Read at arXiv cs.AI