Hyperparameters

Art and science

Hyperparameters are critical settings or configurations that govern the training process of the model but are not directly learned from the data.

Unlike model parameters, which are learned automatically during training (e.g., weights and biases), hyperparameters must be set prior to training and can significantly influence the model's performance, efficiency, and ability to generalize to new tasks.

In the fine-tuning phase, hyperparameters play a pivotal role in adapting a pre-trained model to a specific task without extensive retraining from scratch.

This includes settings such as the learning rate, which determines the size of the steps the model takes during optimisation; the batch size, which affects the amount of data processed simultaneously and influences training stability and speed; and the number of epochs, defining how many times the entire dataset is passed through the model.

Selecting the right set of hyperparameters is crucial

A learning rate too high might cause the model to overshoot the optimal solution, while one too low may result in a painfully slow convergence. Similarly, an excessively large batch size could lead to poor generalization, and too few epochs might underfit the model to the training data.

The process of hyperparameter tuning involves experimenting with different combinations of hyperparameters to find the set that yields the best performance on a validation dataset.

In summary, hyperparameters are the knobs and dials of fine-tuning LLMs, offering a way to customise the training process to achieve optimal performance for specific tasks.

Proper tuning of these hyperparameters is essential for unleashing the full potential of LLMs, enabling them to adapt and excel in a wide range of applications.