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Equation 12 · Part 8 · The Hardest Unsolved Problems in Small and On-Device AI

Symbol theta_i^*

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,
θi∗\theta_i^{*}

What this part means

the old optimum for parameter i and λ\lambda sets how strongly the old task is protected.

Its job in the formula

thetai∗a_i^* is one of the signed contributions combined to compute the quantity on the left.

Where the article explains it

where θi∗\theta_i^{*} is the old optimum for parameter i and λ\lambda sets how strongly the old task is protected.

The passage around this formula

…to earlier tasks. The best-known form estimates 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…

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Learn the underlying idea

A subscript is a label attached below a symbol. It often selects a time step, component, category, or member of a sequence.

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Sources cited in the article section

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