mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Meta-Learning via Classifier(-free) Diffusion Guidance

arXiv 2210.08942 ↗First posted 17 Oct 2022cs.LGcited by 9

On the map: Diffusion models → Diffusion foundations and sampling

Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce meta-learning algorithms that perform zero-shot weight-space adaptation of neural network models to unseen tasks. Our methods repurpose the popular generative image synthesis techniques of natural language guidance and diffusion models to generate neural network weights adapted for tasks. We first train an unconditional generative hypernetwork model to produce neural network weights; then we train a second "guidance" model that, given a natural language task description, traverses the hypernetwork latent space to find high-performance task-adapted weights in a zero-shot manner. We explore two alternative approaches for latent space guidance: "HyperCLIP"-based classifier guidance and a conditional Hypernetwork Latent Diffusion Model ("HyperLDM"), which we show to benefit from the classifier-free guidance technique common in image generation. Finally, we demonstrate that our approaches outperform existing multi-task and meta-learning methods in a series of zero-shot learning experiments on our Meta-VQA dataset.

Key facts. Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Diffusion foundations and sampling, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 44 of its 60 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 17 Oct 2022.

Builds on

44 of 60 references.

Closest ancestors · 5

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2022Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance26 Jul
  2. 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models20 Dec
  3. 2021Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis11 May
  4. 2020Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations26 Nov
  5. 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models19 Jun

Other references · 39

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  2. 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,744
  3. 2020Language Models are Few-Shot Learnerscited by 32,419
  4. 2015U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentationcited by 19,713
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  11. 2021GLIDE: Towards Photorealistic Image Generation and Editing with Text-Guided Diffusion Modelscited by 3,614
  12. 2015Delving Deep into Rectifiers: Surpassing Human-Level Performance on ImageNet Classificationcited by 3,611
27 more
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  2. 2018Neural Tangent Kernel: Convergence and Generalization in Neural Networkscited by 2,621
  3. 2016Making the V in VQA Matter: Elevating the Role of Image Understanding in Visual Question Answeringcited by 2,516
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  18. 2022Hyper-Representations as Generative Models: Sampling Unseen Neural Network Weightscited by 64
  19. 2022HyperTransformer: Model Generation for Supervised and Semi-Supervised Few-Shot Learningcited by 55
  20. 2019HyperGAN: A Generative Model for Diverse, Performant Neural Networkscited by 51
  21. 2021Posterior Meta-Replay for Continual Learningcited by 45
  22. 2022Gender and Racial Bias in Visual Question Answering Datasetscited by 39
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Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2024: 4; 2025: 2; 2026: 3.

9 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026Advanced Image Generation: Negative Prompt Optimization and Latent Classifier Guidance
  2. 2023Your Diffusion Model is Secretly a Zero-Shot Classifier
  3. 2023Text-to-Image Diffusion Models are Zero-Shot Classifiers
  4. 2023Exploring Compositional Visual Generation with Latent Classifier Guidance
  5. 2023End-to-End Diffusion Latent Optimization Improves Classifier Guidance
  6. 2024Plug-and-Play Diffusion Distillation
  7. 2023Meta ControlNet: Enhancing Task Adaptation via Meta Learning
  8. 2025Dynamic Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance via Online Feedback