When Machine Unlearning Meets Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Keep Secret or Forget Knowledge?

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2410.15267v1
• Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 03:51:01 GMT
• Title: When Machine Unlearning Meets Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Keep Secret or Forget Knowledge?
• Authors: Shang Wang, Tianqing Zhu, Dayong Ye, Wanlei Zhou,
• Abstract summary: Large language models (LLMs) can inadvertently learn and retain sensitive information and harmful content during training. We propose a lightweight unlearning framework based on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology. We evaluate our framework through extensive experiments on both open-source and closed-source models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Llama-2-7b-chat-hf, and PaLM 2.
• Score: 15.318301783084681
• License:
• Abstract: The deployment of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini has shown their powerful natural language generation capabilities. However, these models can inadvertently learn and retain sensitive information and harmful content during training, raising significant ethical and legal concerns. To address these issues, machine unlearning has been introduced as a potential solution. While existing unlearning methods take into account the specific characteristics of LLMs, they often suffer from high computational demands, limited applicability, or the risk of catastrophic forgetting. To address these limitations, we propose a lightweight unlearning framework based on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology. By modifying the external knowledge base of RAG, we simulate the effects of forgetting without directly interacting with the unlearned LLM. We approach the construction of unlearned knowledge as a constrained optimization problem, deriving two key components that underpin the effectiveness of RAG-based unlearning. This RAG-based approach is particularly effective for closed-source LLMs, where existing unlearning methods often fail. We evaluate our framework through extensive experiments on both open-source and closed-source models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Llama-2-7b-chat-hf, and PaLM 2. The results demonstrate that our approach meets five key unlearning criteria: effectiveness, universality, harmlessness, simplicity, and robustness. Meanwhile, this approach can extend to multimodal large language models and LLM-based agents.

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