Erasing Without Remembering: Safeguarding Knowledge Forgetting in Large Language Models

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19982v1
• Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2025 11:03:33 GMT
• Title: Erasing Without Remembering: Safeguarding Knowledge Forgetting in Large Language Models
• Authors: Huazheng Wang, Yongcheng Jing, Haifeng Sun, Yingjie Wang, Jingyu Wang, Jianxin Liao, Dacheng Tao,
• Abstract summary: We study how to safeguard model unlearning in large language models (LLMs)<n>Our goal is to prevent unlearned models from recalling any related memory of the targeted knowledge.<n>We propose PERMU, a perturbation-based method that significantly enhances the generalisation capabilities for safeguarding LLM unlearning.
• Score: 70.78205685001168
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: In this paper, we explore machine unlearning from a novel dimension, by studying how to safeguard model unlearning in large language models (LLMs). Our goal is to prevent unlearned models from recalling any related memory of the targeted knowledge.We begin by uncovering a surprisingly simple yet overlooked fact: existing methods typically erase only the exact expressions of the targeted knowledge, leaving paraphrased or related information intact. To rigorously measure such oversights, we introduce UGBench, the first benchmark tailored for evaluating the generalisation performance across 13 state-of-the-art methods.UGBench reveals that unlearned models can still recall paraphrased answers and retain target facts in intermediate layers. To address this, we propose PERMU, a perturbation-based method that significantly enhances the generalisation capabilities for safeguarding LLM unlearning.Experiments demonstrate that PERMU delivers up to a 50.13% improvement in unlearning while maintaining a 43.53% boost in robust generalisation. Our code can be found in https://github.com/MaybeLizzy/UGBench.

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