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Equation 12 · Part 4 · The Hardest Unsolved Problems in Small and On-Device AI

Symbol λ

L(θ)=Lnew(θ)+λ∑iFi(θi−θi∗)2,\mathcal{L}(\theta) = \mathcal{L}_{\mathrm{new}}(\theta) + \lambda \sum_{i} F_i\left(\theta_i - \theta_i^{*}\right)^2,
λ\lambda

What this part means

λ is one of the signed contributions combined to compute the quantity on the left.

Its job in the formula

λ is one of the signed contributions combined to compute the quantity on the left.

The passage around this formula

…a per-parameter importance weight — commonly the diagonal of the Fisher information, FiF_i — from the old task, and adds it to the new loss: L(θ)=Lnew(θ)+λ∑iFi(θi−θi∗)2\mathcal{L}(\theta) = \mathcal{L}_{\mathrm{new}}(\theta) + \lambda \sum_{i} F_i\left(\theta_i - \theta_i^{*}\right)^2. where θi∗\theta_i^{*} is the old optimum for parameter i and λ\lambda sets how strongly the old task is protected. This equation exposes the actual trade rather than resolving it: raising λ\lambda protects old knowledge at the direct expense of how much the new update is allowed to change the model, and there is no value of λ\lambda that removes the trade —…

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A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

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