DUCK: Distance-based Unlearning via Centroid Kinematics
On the map: LLM safety and security → Machine unlearning
Abstract (arXiv)
Machine Unlearning is rising as a new field, driven by the pressing necessity of ensuring privacy in modern artificial intelligence models. This technique primarily aims to eradicate any residual influence of a specific subset of data from the knowledge acquired by a neural model during its training. This work introduces a novel unlearning algorithm, denoted as Distance-based Unlearning via Centroid Kinematics (DUCK), which employs metric learning to guide the removal of samples matching the nearest incorrect centroid in the embedding space. Evaluation of the algorithm's performance is conducted across various benchmark datasets in two distinct scenarios, class removal, and homogeneous sampling removal, obtaining state-of-the-art performance. We also introduce a novel metric, called Adaptive Unlearning Score (AUS), encompassing not only the efficacy of the unlearning process in forgetting target data but also quantifying the performance loss relative to the original model. Additionally, we conducted a thorough investigation of the unlearning mechanism in DUCK, examining its impact on the organization of the feature space and employing explainable AI techniques for deeper insights.
Key facts. Cited by 13 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Machine unlearning, one of 12 directions in LLM safety and security. Builds on 50 of its 68 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 4 Dec 2023.
Builds on
50 of 68 references.
Closest ancestors · 19
Same direction, newest first
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Other references · 31
- 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,744
- 2022Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latentscited by 6,585
- 2017A Unified Approach to Interpreting Model Predictionscited by 6,555
- 2016Membership Inference Attacks against Machine Learning Modelscited by 2,281
- 2019Machine Unlearningcited by 1,061
- 2017VGGFace2: A dataset for recognising faces across pose and agecited by 914
- 2021Membership Inference Attacks From First Principlescited by 878
- 2019Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Net: Selective Forgetting in Deep Networkscited by 618
- 2019Certified Data Removal from Machine Learning Modelscited by 535
- 2018ML-Leaks: Model and Data Independent Membership Inference Attacks and Defenses on Machine Learning Modelscited by 498
- 2021Membership Inference Attacks on Machine Learning: A Surveycited by 321
- 2020Amnesiac Machine Learningcited by 319
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- 2020Descent-to-Delete: Gradient-Based Methods for Machine Unlearningcited by 311
- 2020Systematic Evaluation of Privacy Risks of Machine Learning Modelscited by 292
- 2020When Machine Unlearning Jeopardizes Privacycited by 198
- 2020Forgetting Outside the Box: Scrubbing Deep Networks of Information Accessible from Input-Output Observationscited by 180
- 2020DeltaGrad: Rapid retraining of machine learning modelscited by 149
- 2019Privacy Risks of Securing Machine Learning Models against Adversarial Examplescited by 141
- 2020Machine Unlearning for Random Forestscited by 131
- 2018Uncertainty in Neural Networks: Approximately Bayesian Ensemblingcited by 94
- 2022PUMA: Performance Unchanged Model Augmentation for Training Data Removalcited by 58
- 2020Towards Probabilistic Verification of Machine Unlearningcited by 50
- 2023GNNDelete: A General Strategy for Unlearning in Graph Neural Networkscited by 43
- 2022Unlearning Graph Classifiers with Limited Data Resourcescited by 31
- 2023Efficiently Forgetting What You Have Learned in Graph Representation Learning via Projectioncited by 20
- 2020Selective Forgetting of Deep Networks at a Finer Level than Samplescited by 13
- 2023Safe-CLIP: Removing NSFW Concepts from Vision-and-Language Modelscited by 12
- 2023Generative Adversarial Networks Unlearningcited by 11
- 2023Adapt then Unlearn: Exploring Parameter Space Semantics for Unlearning in Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 11
- 2020Class Clown: Data Redaction in Machine Unlearning at Enterprise Scalecited by 10
- 2023Learn, Unlearn and Relearn: An Online Learning Paradigm for Deep Neural Networkscited by 7
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Citing papers per year: 2024: 6; 2025: 3; 2026: 4.
13 papers.
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- 2024Are we making progress in unlearning? Findings from the first NeurIPS unlearning competitioncited by 50
- 2024Challenging Forgets: Unveiling the Worst-Case Forget Sets in Machine Unlearningcited by 44
- 2024Is Retain Set All You Need in Machine Unlearning? Restoring Performance of Unlearned Models with Out-Of-Distribution Imagescited by 18
- 2025Are We Truly Forgetting? A Critical Re-examination of Machine Unlearning Evaluation Protocolscited by 18
- 2024Remaining-data-free Machine Unlearning by Suppressing Sample Contributioncited by 13
- 2025Go Beyond Your Means: Unlearning with Per-Sample Gradient Orthogonalizationcited by 7
- 2025POUR: A Provably Optimal Method for Unlearning Representations via Neural Collapsecited by 6
- 2026Erase at the Core: Representation Unlearning for Machine Unlearningcited by 5
- 2024ConDa: Fast Federated Unlearning with Contribution Dampeningcited by 2
- 2026Mitigating Privacy Risk via Forget Set-Free Unlearningcited by 2
- 2024Instance-Level Difficulty: A Missing Perspective in Machine Unlearningcited by 1
- 2026Jellyfish: Zero-Shot Federated Unlearning Scheme with Knowledge Disentanglementcited by 1
1 more
- 2026Erased, but Not Gone: Output Forgetting Is Not True Forgetting23 Jun 2026
- 2026Mitigating Privacy Risk via Forget Set-Free Unlearning12 Apr 2026
- 2026Jellyfish: Zero-Shot Federated Unlearning Scheme with Knowledge Disentanglement5 Apr 2026
- 2026Erase at the Core: Representation Unlearning for Machine Unlearning5 Feb 2026
- 2025POUR: A Provably Optimal Method for Unlearning Representations via Neural Collapse24 Nov 2025
- 2025Are We Truly Forgetting? A Critical Re-examination of Machine Unlearning Evaluation Protocols10 Mar 2025
- 2025Go Beyond Your Means: Unlearning with Per-Sample Gradient Orthogonalization4 Mar 2025
- 2024ConDa: Fast Federated Unlearning with Contribution Dampening5 Oct 2024
- 2024Instance-Level Difficulty: A Missing Perspective in Machine Unlearning3 Oct 2024
- 2024Are we making progress in unlearning? Findings from the first NeurIPS unlearning competition13 Jun 2024
- 2024Is Retain Set All You Need in Machine Unlearning? Restoring Performance of Unlearned Models with Out-Of-Distribution Images19 Apr 2024
- 2024Challenging Forgets: Unveiling the Worst-Case Forget Sets in Machine Unlearning12 Mar 2024
1 more
- 2024Are we making progress in unlearning? Findings from the first NeurIPS unlearning competitioncited by 50
- 2024Challenging Forgets: Unveiling the Worst-Case Forget Sets in Machine Unlearningcited by 44
- 2024Is Retain Set All You Need in Machine Unlearning? Restoring Performance of Unlearned Models with Out-Of-Distribution Imagescited by 18
- 2025Are We Truly Forgetting? A Critical Re-examination of Machine Unlearning Evaluation Protocolscited by 18
- 2024Remaining-data-free Machine Unlearning by Suppressing Sample Contributioncited by 13
- 2025Go Beyond Your Means: Unlearning with Per-Sample Gradient Orthogonalizationcited by 7
- 2025POUR: A Provably Optimal Method for Unlearning Representations via Neural Collapsecited by 6
- 2026Erase at the Core: Representation Unlearning for Machine Unlearningcited by 5
- 2024ConDa: Fast Federated Unlearning with Contribution Dampeningcited by 2
- 2026Mitigating Privacy Risk via Forget Set-Free Unlearningcited by 2
- 2024Instance-Level Difficulty: A Missing Perspective in Machine Unlearningcited by 1
- 2026Jellyfish: Zero-Shot Federated Unlearning Scheme with Knowledge Disentanglementcited by 1
12 most cited of 13 All 13 (JSON)
- 2026Erased, but Not Gone: Output Forgetting Is Not True Forgetting23 Jun 2026
- 2026Mitigating Privacy Risk via Forget Set-Free Unlearning12 Apr 2026
- 2026Jellyfish: Zero-Shot Federated Unlearning Scheme with Knowledge Disentanglement5 Apr 2026
- 2026Erase at the Core: Representation Unlearning for Machine Unlearning5 Feb 2026
- 2025POUR: A Provably Optimal Method for Unlearning Representations via Neural Collapse24 Nov 2025
- 2025Are We Truly Forgetting? A Critical Re-examination of Machine Unlearning Evaluation Protocols10 Mar 2025
- 2025Go Beyond Your Means: Unlearning with Per-Sample Gradient Orthogonalization4 Mar 2025
- 2024ConDa: Fast Federated Unlearning with Contribution Dampening5 Oct 2024
- 2024Instance-Level Difficulty: A Missing Perspective in Machine Unlearning3 Oct 2024
- 2024Are we making progress in unlearning? Findings from the first NeurIPS unlearning competition13 Jun 2024
- 2024Is Retain Set All You Need in Machine Unlearning? Restoring Performance of Unlearned Models with Out-Of-Distribution Images19 Apr 2024
- 2024Challenging Forgets: Unveiling the Worst-Case Forget Sets in Machine Unlearning12 Mar 2024
12 newest of 13 All 13 (JSON)
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