aiqbench analysis
This paper tackles negative transfer in domain adaptation when target data is scarce, using an LLM to turn expert text descriptions of the target domain into a prior over which source domains to trust. Its theoretical claims are that the method matches an oracle error rate when the prior is correct and stays asymptotically consistent when it is not. Readers should note that the evidence is limited to a Gaussian estimation task, a C-MAPSS predictive task, and a MuJoCo Hopper control task, so practical gains on larger, messier domains remain untested.
Language-Induced Priors for Domain Adaptation
arXiv:2605.14301v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Domain adaptation faces a fundamental paradox in the cold-start regime. When target data is scarce, statistical methods fail to distinguish relevant source domains from irrelevant ones, which often leads to negative transfer. In this paper, we address this challenge by leveraging expert textual descriptions of the target domain, a resource that is often available but overlooked. We propose a probabilistic framework that translates these semantic descriptions into a choice model, namely a Language-Induced Prior (LIP), that learns the preferences from a pretrained Large Language Model. The LIP is then integrated into an Expectation-Maximization algorithm to identify source relevance. Methodologically, this framework is compatible with any parametric model where a likelihood is available. It allows the LIP to guide the selection of sources when target signals are weak, while gradually refining these choices as samples accumulate. Theoretically, we prove that the estimator roughly matches an oracle cold-start mean squared error under a correct prior, while remaining asymptotically consistent regardless of the quality of the LIP. Empirically, we validated the framework on a descriptive (Gaussian estimation), a predictive (C-MAPSS dataset), and a prescriptive task (MuJoCo Hopper).
Abstract:Domain adaptation faces a fundamental paradox in the cold-start regime. When target data is scarce, statistical methods fail to distinguish relevant source domains from irrelevant ones, which often leads to negative transfer. In this paper, we address this challenge by leveraging expert textual descriptions of the target domain, a resource that is often available but overlooked. We propose a probabilistic framework that translates these semantic descriptions into a choice model, namely a Language-Induced Prior (LIP), that learns the preferences from a pretrained Large Language Model. The LIP is then integrated into an Expectation-Maximization algorithm to identify source relevance. Methodologically, this framework is compatible with any parametric model where a likelihood is available. It allows the LIP to guide the selection of sources when target signals are weak, while gradually refining these choices as samples accumulate. Theoretically, we prove that the estimator roughly matches an oracle cold-start mean squared error under a correct prior, while remaining asymptotically consistent regardless of the quality of the LIP. Empirically, we validated the framework on a descriptive (Gaussian estimation), a predictive (C-MAPSS dataset), and a prescriptive task (MuJoCo Hopper).
Machine Learning (cs.LG); Machine Learning (stat.ML)
arXiv:2605.14301 [cs.LG]
(or arXiv:2605.14301v2 [cs.LG] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.14301 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite
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Full text under the publisher's open licence · 279 words