ExplicitLM: Decoupling Knowledge from Parameters via Explicit Memory Banks

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2511.01581v1
• Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2025 13:53:19 GMT
• Title: ExplicitLM: Decoupling Knowledge from Parameters via Explicit Memory Banks
• Authors: Chengzhang Yu, Zening Lu, Chenyang Zheng, Chiyue Wang, Yiming Zhang, Zhanpeng Jin,
• Abstract summary: Large language models suffer from knowledge staleness and lack of interpretability due to implicit knowledge storage.<n>We propose ExplicitLM, a novel architecture featuring a million-scale external memory bank storing human-readable knowledge as token sequences.
• Score: 4.099810580680816
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Large language models suffer from knowledge staleness and lack of interpretability due to implicit knowledge storage across entangled network parameters, preventing targeted updates and reasoning transparency. We propose ExplicitLM, a novel architecture featuring a million-scale external memory bank storing human-readable knowledge as token sequences, enabling direct inspection and modification. We design a differentiable two-stage retrieval mechanism with efficient coarse-grained filtering via product key decomposition (reducing complexity from $\mathcal{O}(N \cdot |I|)$ to $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{N} \cdot |I|)$) and fine-grained Gumbel-Softmax matching for end-to-end training. Inspired by dual-system cognitive theory, we partition knowledge into frozen explicit facts (20%) and learnable implicit patterns (80%), maintained through Exponential Moving Average updates for stability. ExplicitLM achieves up to 43.67% improvement on knowledge-intensive tasks versus standard Transformers, with 3.62$\times$ gains in low-data regimes (10k samples). Analysis shows strong correlations between memory retrieval and performance, with correct predictions achieving 49% higher hit rates. Unlike RAG systems with frozen retrieval, our jointly optimized architecture demonstrates that interpretable, updatable models can maintain competitive performance while providing unprecedented knowledge transparency.

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