# Is Model Editing Built on Sand? Revealing Its Illusory Success and Fragile Foundation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00625 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.00625/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 29 of its 35 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 1 Oct 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 29 of 29)

- [Explaining and Harnessing Adversarial Examples](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6572/) (2014)
- [Locating and Editing Factual Associations in GPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05262/) (2022)
- [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)
- [Fast Model Editing at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.11309/) (2021)
- [Memory-Based Model Editing at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.06520/) (2022)
- [Zero-Shot Relation Extraction via Reading Comprehension](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.04115/) (2017)
- [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)
- [Aging with GRACE: Lifelong Model Editing with Discrete Key-Value Adaptors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.11031/) (2022)
- [AlphaEdit: Null-Space Constrained Knowledge Editing for Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.02355/) (2024)
- [Transformer-Patcher: One Mistake worth One Neuron](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09785/) (2023)
- [PMET: Precise Model Editing in a Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08742/) (2023)
- [A Comprehensive Study of Knowledge Editing for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.01286/) (2024)
- [Model Editing Harms General Abilities of Large Language Models: Regularization to the Rescue](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.04700/) (2024)
- [EasyEdit: An Easy-to-use Knowledge Editing Framework for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07269/) (2023)
- [Calibrating Factual Knowledge in Pretrained Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03329/) (2022)
- [WISE: Rethinking the Knowledge Memory for Lifelong Model Editing of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14768/) (2024)
- [A Unified Framework for Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14236/) (2024)
- [Learning to Edit: Aligning LLMs with Knowledge Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11905/) (2024)
- [Uncovering Overfitting in Large Language Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.07819/) (2024)
- [Reinforced Lifelong Editing for Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.05759/) (2025)
- [Perturbation-Restrained Sequential Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.16821/) (2024)
- [The Mirage of Model Editing: Revisiting Evaluation in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11177/) (2025)
- [Neuron-Level Sequential Editing for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.04045/) (2024)
- [InstructEdit: Instruction-based Knowledge Editing for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.16123/) (2024)
- [Context-Robust Knowledge Editing for Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.23026/) (2025)
- [Revealing the Deceptiveness of Knowledge Editing: A Mechanistic Analysis of Superficial Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.12636/) (2025)
- [ChainEdit: Propagating Ripple Effects in LLM Knowledge Editing through Logical Rule-Guided Chains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.08427/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Spectral Characterization and Mitigation of Sequential Knowledge Editing Collapse](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.11042/) (2026)
- [Can Fine-Tuning Erase Your Edits? On the Fragile Coexistence of Knowledge Editing and Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.05852/) (2025)
- [Dynamics Reveals Structure: Challenging the Linear Propagation Assumption](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.21601/) (2026)
- [From Fact Overwriting to Knowledge Evolution: Causal Editing via On-Policy Self-Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.28303/) (2026)
- [Towards Evolving Context Parameterization for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.14168/) (2026)
- [Revisiting Parameter-Based Knowledge Editing in Large Language Models: Theoretical Limits and Empirical Evidence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.00570/) (2026)
- [HyperPatch: Sequential Knowledge Editing Under n-ary Structural Drift](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.03179/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models (LLMs) inevitably encode outdated or incorrect knowledge. Updating, deleting, and forgetting such knowledge is important for alignment, safety, and other issues. To address this issue, model editing has emerged as a promising paradigm: by precisely editing a small subset of parameters such that a specific fact is updated while preserving other knowledge. Despite its great success reported in previous papers, we find the apparent reliability of editing rests on a fragile foundation and the current literature is largely driven by illusory success. The fundamental goal of steering the model's output toward a target with minimal modification would encourage exploiting hidden shortcuts, rather than utilizing real semantics. This problem directly challenges the feasibility of the current model editing literature at its very foundation, as shortcuts are inherently at odds with robust knowledge integration. Coincidentally, this issue has long been obscured by evaluation frameworks that lack the design of negative examples. To uncover it, we systematically develop a suite of new evaluation methods. Strikingly, we find that state-of-the-art approaches collapse even under the simplest negation queries. Our empirical evidence shows that editing is likely to be based on shortcuts rather than full semantics, calling for an urgent reconsideration of the very basis of model editing before further advancements can be meaningfully pursued.