# Gradient-Free Continual Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01219 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.01219/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 36 of its 57 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 1 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 36)

- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [Emerging Properties in Self-Supervised Vision Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.14294/) (2021)
- [Overcoming catastrophic forgetting in neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00796/) (2016)
- [Fashion-MNIST: a Novel Image Dataset for Benchmarking Machine Learning Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.07747/) (2017)
- [Learning without Forgetting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.09282/) (2016)
- [Fine-Grained Visual Classification of Aircraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1306.5151/) (2013)
- [Moment Matching for Multi-Source Domain Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01754/) (2018)
- [Riemannian Walk for Incremental Learning: Understanding Forgetting and Intransigence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.10112/) (2018)
- [Large Scale Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.13260/) (2019)
- [Three scenarios for continual learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.07734/) (2019)
- [Evolution Strategies as a Scalable Alternative to Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.03864/) (2017)
- [Class-incremental learning: survey and performance evaluation on image classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.15277/) (2020)
- [Orthogonal Gradient Descent for Continual Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.07104/) (2019)
- [Maintaining Discrimination and Fairness in Class Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.07053/) (2019)
- [The Forward-Forward Algorithm: Some Preliminary Investigations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.13345/) (2022)
- [Semantic Drift Compensation for Class-Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00440/) (2020)
- [Direct Feedback Alignment Provides Learning in Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.01596/) (2016)
- [FOSTER: Feature Boosting and Compression for Class-Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.04662/) (2022)
- [Class-Incremental Learning: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.03648/) (2023)
- [A Primer on Zeroth-Order Optimization in Signal Processing and Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.06224/) (2020)
- [Deep Neuroevolution: Genetic Algorithms Are a Competitive Alternative for Training Deep Neural Networks for Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.06567/) (2017)
- [Always Be Dreaming: A New Approach for Data-Free Class-Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.09701/) (2021)
- [Rotate your Networks: Better Weight Consolidation and Less Catastrophic Forgetting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.02950/) (2018)
- [FeTrIL: Feature Translation for Exemplar-Free Class-Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.13131/) (2022)
- [Self-Sustaining Representation Expansion for Non-Exemplar Class-Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.06359/) (2022)
- [Memory-Efficient Incremental Learning Through Feature Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00713/) (2020)
- [Efficient Continual Learning with Modular Networks and Task-Driven Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.12631/) (2020)
- [FeCAM: Exploiting the Heterogeneity of Class Distributions in Exemplar-Free Continual Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.14062/) (2023)
- [PyCIL: A Python Toolbox for Class-Incremental Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12533/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Neural networks are notorious for forgetting old skills when taught new ones - a problem known as catastrophic forgetting. Standard continual learning techniques try to fix this by saving old data or relying on complex gradient updates, but these methods fail when past data cannot be stored due to memory or privacy constraints. To solve this, we propose EvoCL, a gradient-free approach that uses evolutionary algorithms to update the network without needing old data or gradients. EvoCL uses a lightweight adapter module to translate saved representations from past tasks into the model's current space, allowing it to learn new tasks while keeping past knowledge intact. Across multiple benchmarks, EvoCL matches or exceeds standard performance under strict memory constraints, offering a simple and flexible new direction for continual learning. The code to reproduce these results is available at https://github.com/grypesc/EvoCL.