Navigating Scaling Laws: Compute Optimality in Adaptive Model Training
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Abstract (arXiv)
In recent years, the state-of-the-art in deep learning has been dominated by very large models that have been pre-trained on vast amounts of data. The paradigm is very simple: investing more computational resources (optimally) leads to better performance, and even predictably so; neural scaling laws have been derived that accurately forecast the performance of a network for a desired level of compute. This leads to the notion of a `compute-optimal' model, i.e. a model that allocates a given level of compute during training optimally to maximize performance. In this work, we extend the concept of optimality by allowing for an `adaptive' model, i.e. a model that can change its shape during training. By doing so, we can design adaptive models that optimally traverse between the underlying scaling laws and outpace their `static' counterparts, leading to a significant reduction in the required compute to reach a given target performance. We show that our approach generalizes across modalities and different shape parameters.
Key facts. Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 59 of its 70 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 6 Nov 2023.
Builds on
59 of 70 references.
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Citing papers per year: 2024: 1; 2025: 1; 2026: 2.
4 papers.
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