A Survey on Dynamic Neural Networks for Natural Language Processing
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Abstract (arXiv)
Effectively scaling large Transformer models is a main driver of recent advances in natural language processing. Dynamic neural networks, as an emerging research direction, are capable of scaling up neural networks with sub-linear increases in computation and time by dynamically adjusting their computational path based on the input. Dynamic neural networks could be a promising solution to the growing parameter numbers of pretrained language models, allowing both model pretraining with trillions of parameters and faster inference on mobile devices. In this survey, we summarize progress of three types of dynamic neural networks in NLP: skimming, mixture of experts, and early exit. We also highlight current challenges in dynamic neural networks and directions for future research.
Key facts. Cited by 24 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 54 of its 80 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 15 Feb 2022.
Builds on
54 of 80 references.
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50 most cited of 54 All 54 (JSON)
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Citing papers per year: 2022: 4; 2023: 7; 2024: 8; 2025: 3; 2026: 2.
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- 2024A Survey on Efficient Inference for Large Language Modelscited by 197
- 2022A Review of Sparse Expert Models in Deep Learningcited by 147
- 2022Efficient Methods for Natural Language Processing: A Surveycited by 78
- 2023EE-LLM: Large-Scale Training and Inference of Early-Exit Large Language Models with 3D Parallelismcited by 69
- 2024Model Compression and Efficient Inference for Large Language Models: A Surveycited by 62
- 2022Generative Knowledge Graph Construction: A Reviewcited by 49
- 2024Fast yet Safe: Early-Exiting with Risk Controlcited by 27
- 2023Sparse Modular Activation for Efficient Sequence Modelingcited by 20
- 2023F-PABEE: Flexible-patience-based Early Exiting for Single-label and Multi-label text Classification Taskscited by 18
- 2023Towards Anytime Classification in Early-Exit Architectures by Enforcing Conditional Monotonicitycited by 16
- 2024EE-Tuning: An Economical yet Scalable Solution for Tuning Early-Exit Large Language Modelscited by 13
- 2022VLUE: A Multi-Task Benchmark for Evaluating Vision-Language Modelscited by 11
12 more
- 2024NACHOS: Neural Architecture Search for Hardware Constrained Early Exit Neural Networkscited by 9
- 2025On-device edge learning for IoT data streams: a surveycited by 8
- 2023Early-Exit Neural Networks with Nested Prediction Setscited by 6
- 2025A Survey on Dynamic Neural Networks: from Computer Vision to Multi-modal Sensor Fusioncited by 5
- 2023A comprehensive review of automatic text summarization techniques: method, data, evaluation and codingcited by 4
- 2024Tiny Models are the Computational Saver for Large Modelscited by 4
- 2024Multimodal Adaptive Inference for Document Image Classification with Anytime Early Exitingcited by 2
- 2023Simple is Better and Large is Not Enough: Towards Ensembling of Foundational Language Modelscited by 1
- 2024Rule Based Learning with Dynamic (Graph) Neural Networkscited by 0
- 2025Neuroplasticity-inspired dynamic ANNs for multi-task demand forecastingcited by 0
- 2026MME: Mixture of Mesh Experts with Random Walk Transformer Gatingcited by 0
- 2026Rethinking Neural Width for Alternating Current Optimal Power Flow Proxiescited by 0
- 2026Rethinking Neural Width for Alternating Current Optimal Power Flow Proxies2 Jun 2026
- 2026MME: Mixture of Mesh Experts with Random Walk Transformer Gating28 Feb 2026
- 2025Neuroplasticity-inspired dynamic ANNs for multi-task demand forecasting29 Sep 2025
- 2025On-device edge learning for IoT data streams: a survey25 Feb 2025
- 2025A Survey on Dynamic Neural Networks: from Computer Vision to Multi-modal Sensor Fusion13 Jan 2025
- 2024Rule Based Learning with Dynamic (Graph) Neural Networks14 Jun 2024
- 2024Fast yet Safe: Early-Exiting with Risk Control31 May 2024
- 2024Multimodal Adaptive Inference for Document Image Classification with Anytime Early Exiting21 May 2024
- 2024A Survey on Efficient Inference for Large Language Models22 Apr 2024
- 2024Tiny Models are the Computational Saver for Large Models26 Mar 2024
- 2024Model Compression and Efficient Inference for Large Language Models: A Survey15 Feb 2024
- 2024EE-Tuning: An Economical yet Scalable Solution for Tuning Early-Exit Large Language Models1 Feb 2024
12 more
- 2024NACHOS: Neural Architecture Search for Hardware Constrained Early Exit Neural Networks24 Jan 2024
- 2023EE-LLM: Large-Scale Training and Inference of Early-Exit Large Language Models with 3D Parallelism8 Dec 2023
- 2023Early-Exit Neural Networks with Nested Prediction Sets10 Nov 2023
- 2023Simple is Better and Large is Not Enough: Towards Ensembling of Foundational Language Models23 Aug 2023
- 2023Sparse Modular Activation for Efficient Sequence Modeling19 Jun 2023
- 2023Towards Anytime Classification in Early-Exit Architectures by Enforcing Conditional Monotonicity5 Jun 2023
- 2023F-PABEE: Flexible-patience-based Early Exiting for Single-label and Multi-label text Classification Tasks21 May 2023
- 2023A comprehensive review of automatic text summarization techniques: method, data, evaluation and coding4 Jan 2023
- 2022Generative Knowledge Graph Construction: A Review23 Oct 2022
- 2022A Review of Sparse Expert Models in Deep Learning4 Sep 2022
- 2022Efficient Methods for Natural Language Processing: A Survey31 Aug 2022
- 2022VLUE: A Multi-Task Benchmark for Evaluating Vision-Language Models30 May 2022
- 2024A Survey on Efficient Inference for Large Language Modelscited by 197
- 2023EE-LLM: Large-Scale Training and Inference of Early-Exit Large Language Models with 3D Parallelismcited by 69
- 2024Fast yet Safe: Early-Exiting with Risk Controlcited by 27
- 2023Towards Anytime Classification in Early-Exit Architectures by Enforcing Conditional Monotonicitycited by 16
- 2024EE-Tuning: An Economical yet Scalable Solution for Tuning Early-Exit Large Language Modelscited by 13
- 2024Tiny Models are the Computational Saver for Large Modelscited by 4
- 2024Multimodal Adaptive Inference for Document Image Classification with Anytime Early Exitingcited by 2
- 2024Fast yet Safe: Early-Exiting with Risk Control31 May 2024
- 2024Multimodal Adaptive Inference for Document Image Classification with Anytime Early Exiting21 May 2024
- 2024A Survey on Efficient Inference for Large Language Models22 Apr 2024
- 2024Tiny Models are the Computational Saver for Large Models26 Mar 2024
- 2024EE-Tuning: An Economical yet Scalable Solution for Tuning Early-Exit Large Language Models1 Feb 2024
- 2023EE-LLM: Large-Scale Training and Inference of Early-Exit Large Language Models with 3D Parallelism8 Dec 2023
- 2023Towards Anytime Classification in Early-Exit Architectures by Enforcing Conditional Monotonicity5 Jun 2023
- 2022A Review of Sparse Expert Models in Deep Learningcited by 147
- 2026MME: Mixture of Mesh Experts with Random Walk Transformer Gatingcited by 0
- 2026MME: Mixture of Mesh Experts with Random Walk Transformer Gating28 Feb 2026
- 2022A Review of Sparse Expert Models in Deep Learning4 Sep 2022
- 2022Efficient Methods for Natural Language Processing: A Surveycited by 78
- 2024Model Compression and Efficient Inference for Large Language Models: A Surveycited by 62
- 2022Generative Knowledge Graph Construction: A Reviewcited by 49
- 2023Sparse Modular Activation for Efficient Sequence Modelingcited by 20
- 2023F-PABEE: Flexible-patience-based Early Exiting for Single-label and Multi-label text Classification Taskscited by 18
- 2024NACHOS: Neural Architecture Search for Hardware Constrained Early Exit Neural Networkscited by 9
- 2025On-device edge learning for IoT data streams: a surveycited by 8
- 2023Early-Exit Neural Networks with Nested Prediction Setscited by 6
- 2025A Survey on Dynamic Neural Networks: from Computer Vision to Multi-modal Sensor Fusioncited by 5
- 2023A comprehensive review of automatic text summarization techniques: method, data, evaluation and codingcited by 4
- 2023Simple is Better and Large is Not Enough: Towards Ensembling of Foundational Language Modelscited by 1
- 2024Rule Based Learning with Dynamic (Graph) Neural Networkscited by 0
12 most cited of 14 All 14 (JSON)
- 2026Rethinking Neural Width for Alternating Current Optimal Power Flow Proxies2 Jun 2026
- 2025Neuroplasticity-inspired dynamic ANNs for multi-task demand forecasting29 Sep 2025
- 2025On-device edge learning for IoT data streams: a survey25 Feb 2025
- 2025A Survey on Dynamic Neural Networks: from Computer Vision to Multi-modal Sensor Fusion13 Jan 2025
- 2024Rule Based Learning with Dynamic (Graph) Neural Networks14 Jun 2024
- 2024Model Compression and Efficient Inference for Large Language Models: A Survey15 Feb 2024
- 2024NACHOS: Neural Architecture Search for Hardware Constrained Early Exit Neural Networks24 Jan 2024
- 2023Early-Exit Neural Networks with Nested Prediction Sets10 Nov 2023
- 2023Simple is Better and Large is Not Enough: Towards Ensembling of Foundational Language Models23 Aug 2023
- 2023Sparse Modular Activation for Efficient Sequence Modeling19 Jun 2023
- 2023F-PABEE: Flexible-patience-based Early Exiting for Single-label and Multi-label text Classification Tasks21 May 2023
- 2023A comprehensive review of automatic text summarization techniques: method, data, evaluation and coding4 Jan 2023
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