Attention, May I Have Your Decision? Localizing Generative Choices in Diffusion Models
On the map: Diffusion models → Image generation, text-to-image and editing
Abstract (arXiv)
Text-to-image diffusion models exhibit remarkable generative capabilities, yet their internal operations remain opaque, particularly when handling prompts that are not fully descriptive. In such scenarios, models must make implicit decisions to generate details not explicitly specified in the text. This work investigates the hypothesis that this decision-making process is not diffuse but is computationally localized within the model's architecture. While existing localization techniques focus on prompt-related interventions, we notice that such explicit conditioning may differ from implicit decisions. Therefore, we introduce a probing-based localization technique to identify the layers with the highest attribute separability for concepts. Our findings indicate that the resolution of ambiguous concepts is governed principally by self-attention layers, identifying them as the most effective point for intervention. Based on this discovery, we propose ICM (Implicit Choice-Modification) - a precise steering method that applies targeted interventions to a small subset of layers. Extensive experiments confirm that intervening on these specific self-attention layers yields superior debiasing performance compared to existing state-of-the-art methods, minimizing artifacts common to less precise approaches. The code is available at https://github.com/kzaleskaa/icm.
Key facts. Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Image generation, text-to-image and editing, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 35 of its 36 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 29 Mar 2026.
Builds on
35 of 36 references.
Closest ancestors · 18
Same direction, newest first
- 2025Localizing Knowledge in Diffusion Transformers24 May
- 2025Dissecting and Mitigating Diffusion Bias via Mechanistic Interpretability26 Mar
- 2025Precise Parameter Localization for Textual Generation in Diffusion Models14 Feb
- 2024Cross-Attention Head Position Patterns Can Align with Human Visual Concepts in Text-to-Image Generative Models3 Dec
- 2024A Cat Is A Cat (Not A Dog!): Unraveling Information Mix-ups in Text-to-Image Encoders through Causal Analysis and Embedding Optimization1 Oct
- 2024Magnet: We Never Know How Text-to-Image Diffusion Models Work, Until We Learn How Vision-Language Models Function30 Sep
- 2024InitNO: Boosting Text-to-Image Diffusion Models via Initial Noise Optimization6 Apr
- 2024Faster Diffusion via Temporal Attention Decomposition3 Apr
- 2024Towards Understanding Cross and Self-Attention in Stable Diffusion for Text-Guided Image Editing6 Mar
- 2024Balancing Act: Distribution-Guided Debiasing in Diffusion Models28 Feb
- 2024Debiasing Text-to-Image Diffusion Models22 Feb
- 2024Get What You Want, Not What You Don't: Image Content Suppression for Text-to-Image Diffusion Models8 Feb
6 more
- 2023Self-Discovering Interpretable Diffusion Latent Directions for Responsible Text-to-Image Generation28 Nov
- 2023LEDITS++: Limitless Image Editing using Text-to-Image Models28 Nov
- 2023Finetuning Text-to-Image Diffusion Models for Fairness11 Nov
- 2023Localizing and Editing Knowledge in Text-to-Image Generative Models20 Oct
- 2023Editing Implicit Assumptions in Text-to-Image Diffusion Models14 Mar
- 2023Attend-and-Excite: Attention-Based Semantic Guidance for Text-to-Image Diffusion Models31 Jan
Other references · 17
- 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,744
- 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,863
- 2021LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Modelscited by 14,380
- 2018A Style-Based Generator Architecture for Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 6,013
- 2023SDXL: Improving Latent Diffusion Models for High-Resolution Image Synthesiscited by 4,356
- 2022Locating and Editing Factual Associations in GPTcited by 2,691
- 2022Prompt-to-Prompt Image Editing with Cross Attention Controlcited by 2,431
- 2023Unified Concept Editing in Diffusion Modelscited by 388
- 2024SANA: Efficient High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Linear Diffusion Transformerscited by 340
- 2022Diffusion Models already have a Semantic Latent Spacecited by 328
- 2023Interpretable Diffusion via Information Decompositioncited by 37
- 2024On Mechanistic Knowledge Localization in Text-to-Image Generative Modelscited by 28
5 more
- 2024Training Unbiased Diffusion Models From Biased Datasetcited by 25
- 2023Debiasing Algorithm through Model Adaptationcited by 24
- 2024Efficient Fine-Tuning and Concept Suppression for Pruned Diffusion Modelscited by 16
- 2025Dissecting Bias in LLMs: A Mechanistic Interpretability Perspectivecited by 15
- 2025LFTF: Locating First and Then Fine-Tuning for Mitigating Gender Bias in Large Language Modelscited by 2
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