DomainPilot: Domain-Level Loss-Guided Two-Stage Data Mixture Optimization for Efficient Language Model Fine-Tuning
DomainPilot introduces token-level domain loss monitoring to capture per-domain learning dynamics during training without halting the data pipeline. It proposes a Scaling Law guided coarse optimization stage that fits domain-specific convergence curves and derives a principled prior for mixture adjustment. A subsequent Mixing Law guided fine optimization stage refines the mixture by modeling cross-domain interaction effects through controlled sweep experiments. The framework is realized via a pa
Analysis
TL;DR
- DomainPilot introduces token-level domain loss monitoring to capture per-domain learning dynamics during training without halting the data pipeline.
- It proposes a Scaling Law guided coarse optimization stage that fits domain-specific convergence curves and derives a principled prior for mixture adjustment.
- A subsequent Mixing Law guided fine optimization stage refines the mixture by modeling cross-domain interaction effects through controlled sweep experiments.
- The framework is realized via a patch-based architecture that injects domain-aware loss computation into existing training frameworks with minimal adapter code.
- Validation on Qwen3-1.7B shows improvements of +2% on MMLU-Redux, +1.8% on AIME24, +3.8% on LiveCodeBench v5, and +3.6% on BFCL v3 without increasing total data volume or training cost.
Why It Matters
DomainPilot addresses critical limitations in dynamic data scheduling methods for industrial-scale pretraining and supervised fine-tuning (SFT) by providing an effective, lightweight alternative to expensive data selection or auxiliary model training. This approach enhances the training efficacy of large language models (LLMs) through optimized data mixture composition, which is crucial for improving performance across various benchmarks without additional computational costs.
Technical Details
- Token-Level Domain Loss Monitoring: Captures per-domain learning dynamics during training without interrupting the data pipeline.
- Scaling Law Guided Coarse Optimization Stage: Fits domain-specific convergence curves to derive a principled prior for mixture adjustment.
- Mixing Law Guided Fine Optimization Stage: Refines the mixture by modeling cross-domain interaction effects through controlled sweep experiments.
- Patch-Based Architecture: Injects domain-aware loss computation into existing training frameworks like MindSpeed/Megatron-LM with approximately 30 lines of framework-specific adapter code.
- Validation: Demonstrated on the Qwen3-1.7B model during SFT, showing significant improvements on multiple benchmarks without increasing total data volume or training cost.
Industry Insight
The development of DomainPilot suggests a promising direction for optimizing data mixture strategies in LLM training, potentially reducing the need for resource-intensive data selection processes and auxiliary model training. For AI professionals, this implies that leveraging domain-level signals can lead to more efficient and effective fine-tuning procedures, ultimately enhancing model performance while maintaining manageable computational requirements.
Disclaimer: The above content is generated by AI and is for reference only.