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ReLU$^2$ Wins: Discovering Efficient Activation Functions for Sparse LLMs
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Sparse computation offers a compelling solution for the inference of Large Language Models (LLMs) in low-resource scenarios by dynamically skipping the computation of inactive neurons. While traditional approaches focus on ReLU-based LLMs, leveraging zeros in activation values, we broaden the scope of sparse LLMs beyond zero activation values. We introduce a general method that defines neuron activation through neuron output magnitudes and a tailored magnitude threshold, demonstrating that non-ReLU LLMs also exhibit sparse activation. To find the most efficient activation function for sparse computation, we propose a systematic framework to examine the sparsity of LLMs from three aspects: the trade-off between sparsity and performance, the predictivity of sparsity, and the hardware affinity. We conduct thorough experiments on LLMs utilizing different activation functions, including ReLU, SwiGLU, ReGLU, and ReLU$^2$. The results indicate that models employing ReLU$^2$ excel across all three evaluation aspects, highlighting its potential as an efficient activation function for sparse LLMs. We will release the code to facilitate future research.
- Subjects :
- Computer Science - Machine Learning
Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2402.03804
- Document Type :
- Working Paper