Techniques for Multi-Adapter / Multi-Task Training

Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning methods dramatically reduce the number of trainable parameters, opening up possibilities for tuning a model for multiple downstream tasks. One significant advantage is the ability to train and manage multiple adapters for a single frozen base model, allowing it to specialize in various tasks or domains without the prohibitive cost of storing multiple full model copies. Here are strategies for managing and training these multiple adapters concurrently or sequentially.

Motivations for Multi-Adapter Training

Training multiple adapters on the same base model serves several purposes:

1. Multi-Task Learning: Train distinct adapters for different tasks (e.g., summarization, translation, sentiment analysis) leveraging the general capabilities of the base LLM while specializing task-specific knowledge within the lightweight adapters.
2. Domain Specialization: Develop adapters fine-tuned on specific domains (e.g., medical, legal, financial) using the same foundational model.
3. Personalization: Create user-specific adapters to tailor model behavior based on individual preferences or data, while sharing the core model among users.
4. Incremental Learning: Introduce new capabilities or update existing ones by training new adapters without affecting previously trained ones or requiring retraining from scratch.
5. Efficiency: Store only the small adapter weights for each task instead of multiple copies of the entire model, significantly saving storage space. During inference, the appropriate adapter can be loaded on demand.

Strategies for Training Multiple Adapters

There are primary approaches to training multiple adapters for one base model:

1. Sequential Training

This is the most straightforward method. You train one adapter at a time for its specific task.

• Process:

  1. Load the pre-trained base model (often quantized, e.g., using QLoRA prerequisites).
  2. Initialize or load the weights for the first adapter (e.g., adapter_task_A).
  3. Configure the PEFT setup (like LoRA config) to target only the weights of adapter_task_A.
  4. Train the model on the data for Task A. Only adapter_task_A weights are updated.
  5. Save the trained adapter_task_A weights.
  6. Repeat steps 2-5 for adapter_task_B using data for Task B, ensuring only adapter_task_B weights are trainable in this phase. Continue for all adapters.

• Advantages: Simple to implement and manage. Each training run is independent, simplifying debugging.

• Disadvantages: Can be time-consuming if many adapters are needed. Doesn't leverage potential computational efficiencies from processing different task data together.

2. Interleaved or Mixed-Batch Training

This approach trains multiple adapters within the same training loop by constructing batches containing data samples for different tasks.

• Process:

  1. Load the pre-trained base model.
  2. Initialize or load all adapter configurations and their weights (e.g., adapter_task_A, adapter_task_B).
  3. Modify the dataset loading and batch collation process: Each sample in a batch must be associated with its target adapter (e.g., via a task ID or adapter name). Batches can contain samples targeting different adapters.
  4. Modify the model's forward pass: The core base model computation is performed once. Then, based on the task ID associated with each sample (or group of samples), the corresponding adapter's weights (e.g., LoRA matrices A and B) are applied.
  5. Modify the backward pass and optimizer step: Gradients must be computed only with respect to the adapter weights activated in the forward pass for each specific sample. Gradients for inactive adapters within that batch should be zeroed out or ignored by the optimizer.
  6. Manage optimizer states: Either use separate optimizer instances for each adapter or carefully manage the state within a single optimizer to ensure updates are applied correctly to the respective adapter parameters.

• Forward Pass Logic (Pseudocode):

# Assume batch contains samples tagged with 'adapter_name'
base_output = base_model(input_ids, attention_mask)
final_output = {} # Store outputs per adapter

for adapter_name in unique_adapter_names_in_batch:
    # Select samples for this adapter
    adapter_mask = [sample['adapter_name'] == adapter_name for sample in batch]
    adapter_input_indices = ... # Get indices based on adapter_mask

    # Apply the specific adapter
    # Note: This requires the model architecture to support dynamic adapter selection
    adapter_output = get_adapter_layer(adapter_name)(base_output[adapter_input_indices])

    # Combine or store adapter-specific output
    final_output[adapter_name] = adapter_output

# Loss calculation happens based on final_output and labels for each task

• Advantages: Potentially more computationally efficient, especially if the base model computation dominates. Allows for dynamic balancing of task training within a single run.
• Disadvantages: Significantly more complex to implement. Requires careful handling of batching, forward/backward passes, and optimizer states. Debugging can be challenging.

Libraries like Hugging Face's peft provide abstractions that simplify mixed-batch training. Using PeftModel.add_adapter() and PeftModel.set_adapter() allows managing multiple adapter configurations, although the training loop logic for mixed batches often still requires custom implementation.

Architecture for multi-adapter training using a shared base model. Input data is routed to the appropriate adapter (e.g., LoRA layers) after passing through the frozen base model. Gradients during backpropagation only update the weights of the adapter corresponding to the specific task sample.

Technical Notes

• Adapter Management: Use a clear naming convention for adapters. Libraries often provide functions to load, save, activate, and deactivate specific adapters associated with a PeftModel.
• Optimizer State: For mixed-batch training, using separate optimizers per adapter is often the cleanest approach, although it might increase memory usage slightly. If using a single optimizer, ensure it correctly handles parameter groups corresponding to different adapters, possibly requiring custom logic to mask gradients for inactive adapters within a batch. Memory-efficient optimizers (like 8-bit Adam) are beneficial here.
• Batch Construction: Decide on a strategy for sampling data from different tasks when creating mixed batches. Options include uniform sampling, sampling proportional to dataset size, or dynamically adjusting sampling rates based on task performance. This can influence learning dynamics.
• Gradient Accumulation: This technique is fully compatible and often useful, especially with mixed batches. Accumulate gradients over several micro-batches (potentially containing samples for various tasks) before performing a single optimizer step.
• Memory Footprint: While each adapter is small, loading many adapters into GPU memory simultaneously for mixed training increases the overall memory requirement compared to sequential training or single-adapter PEFT. Quantization techniques like QLoRA for the base model become even more important. Assess the trade-off between training speed (mixed batch) and memory constraints.
• Compatibility: Ensure the PEFT method used (LoRA, Adapters, etc.) and the specific implementation support the dynamic selection or concurrent application required for multi-adapter scenarios.

Effectively managing multiple adapters allows for creating highly versatile models capable of handling diverse tasks efficiently, representing a significant operational advantage of PEFT methodologies over traditional full fine-tuning. The choice between sequential and mixed-batch training depends on the number of adapters, computational resources, and implementation complexity tolerance.