# Editing Conceptual Knowledge for Large Language Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.06259 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.06259/

## Key facts

- Cited by 21 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 42 of its 63 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 42)

- [Language Models are Few-Shot Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.14165/) (2020)
- [Locating and Editing Factual Associations in GPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05262/) (2022)
- [Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence: Early experiments with GPT-4](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.12712/) (2023)
- [Representation Engineering: A Top-Down Approach to AI Transparency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.01405/) (2023)
- [Mass-Editing Memory in a Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.07229/) (2022)
- [Editing Factual Knowledge in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08164/) (2021)
- [Memory-Based Model Editing at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.06520/) (2022)
- [Editing Large Language Models: Problems, Methods, and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.13172/) (2023)
- [MQuAKE: Assessing Knowledge Editing in Language Models via Multi-Hop Questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14795/) (2023)
- [Can We Edit Factual Knowledge by In-Context Learning?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.12740/) (2023)
- [TrustLLM: Trustworthiness in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.05561/) (2024)
- [Aging with GRACE: Lifelong Model Editing with Discrete Key-Value Adaptors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.11031/) (2022)
- [Evaluating the Ripple Effects of Knowledge Editing in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.12976/) (2023)
- [Survey on Factuality in Large Language Models: Knowledge, Retrieval and Domain-Specificity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.07521/) (2023)
- [Transformer-Patcher: One Mistake worth One Neuron](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09785/) (2023)
- [Knowledge Editing for Large Language Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.16218/) (2023)
- [PMET: Precise Model Editing in a Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08742/) (2023)
- [Information Flow Routes: Automatically Interpreting Language Models at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.00824/) (2024)
- [Model Editing at Scale leads to Gradual and Catastrophic Forgetting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.07453/) (2024)
- [Calibrating Factual Knowledge in Pretrained Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03329/) (2022)
- [MELO: Enhancing Model Editing with Neuron-Indexed Dynamic LoRA](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11795/) (2023)
- [Can LMs Learn New Entities from Descriptions? Challenges in Propagating Injected Knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.01651/) (2023)
- [Evaluating the Reversal Curse in Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10322/) (2023)
- [A Survey on Knowledge Editing of Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.19704/) (2023)
- [AliCG: Fine-grained and Evolvable Conceptual Graph Construction for Semantic Search at Alibaba](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01686/) (2021)
- [Trends in Integration of Knowledge and Large Language Models: A Survey and Taxonomy of Methods, Benchmarks, and Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.05876/) (2023)
- [Large Language Models Relearn Removed Concepts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.01814/) (2024)
- [Language Model Analysis for Ontology Subsumption Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.06761/) (2023)
- [Propagation and Pitfalls: Reasoning-based Assessment of Knowledge Editing through Counterfactual Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.17585/) (2024)
- [Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind: The Impact of Editing Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.10647/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 21 of 21)

- [From Matching to Generation: A Survey on Generative Information Retrieval](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.14851/) (2024)
- [Perturbation-Restrained Sequential Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.16821/) (2024)
- [Can Knowledge Editing Really Correct Hallucinations?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.16251/) (2024)
- [Mask-DPO: Generalizable Fine-grained Factuality Alignment of LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02846/) (2025)
- [Can Editing LLMs Inject Harm?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.20224/) (2024)
- [Unbridled Icarus: A Survey of the Potential Perils of Image Inputs in Multimodal Large Language Model Security](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.05264/) (2024)
- [Sharpness-Aware Pretraining Mitigates Catastrophic Forgetting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.02105/) (2026)
- [Neuron-based Personality Trait Induction in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.12327/) (2024)
- [ChroKnowledge: Unveiling Chronological Knowledge of Language Models in Multiple Domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.09870/) (2024)
- [Concept-ROT: Poisoning Concepts in Large Language Models with Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.13341/) (2024)
- [Identifying Knowledge Editing Types in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.19663/) (2024)
- [Disentangling Knowledge Representations for Large Language Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18774/) (2025)
- [How Well Can Knowledge Edit Methods Edit Perplexing Knowledge?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.17253/) (2024)
- [Validating Mechanistic Interpretations: An Axiomatic Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.13594/) (2024)
- [Keys to Robust Edits: from Theoretical Insights to Practical Advances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.09338/) (2024)
- [SetKE: Knowledge Editing for Knowledge Elements Overlap](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.20972/) (2025)
- [A Semantic-based Optimization Approach for Repairing LLMs: Case Study on Code Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.12899/) (2025)
- [Is Your LLM Really Mastering the Concept? A Multi-Agent Benchmark](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.17512/) (2025)
- [Do Prompts Guarantee Safety? Mitigating Toxicity from LLM Generations through Subspace Intervention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.06623/) (2026)
- [RAIE: Region-Aware Incremental Preference Editing with LoRA for LLM-based Recommendation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.00638/) (2026)
- [Map Users and Mapmakers: The Scope of Cognitive Attribution from Acquired Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.13879/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recently, there has been a growing interest in knowledge editing for Large Language Models (LLMs). Current approaches and evaluations merely explore the instance-level editing, while whether LLMs possess the capability to modify concepts remains unclear. This paper pioneers the investigation of editing conceptual knowledge for LLMs, by constructing a novel benchmark dataset ConceptEdit and establishing a suite of new metrics for evaluation. The experimental results reveal that, although existing editing methods can efficiently modify concept-level definition to some extent, they also have the potential to distort the related instantial knowledge in LLMs, leading to poor performance. We anticipate this can inspire further progress in better understanding LLMs. Our project homepage is available at https://zjunlp.github.io/project/ConceptEdit.