Fishing for Magikarp: Automatically Detecting Under-trained Tokens in Large Language Models

The disconnect between tokenizer creation and model training in language models allows for specific inputs, such as the infamous SolidGoldMagikarp token, to induce unwanted model behaviour. Although such `glitch tokens', tokens present in the tokenizer vocabulary but that are nearly or entirely absent during model training, have been observed across various models, a reliable method to identify and address them has been missing. We present a comprehensive analysis of Large Language Model tokenizers, specifically targeting this issue of detecting under-trained tokens. Through a combination of tokenizer analysis, model weight-based indicators, and prompting techniques, we develop novel and effective methods for automatically detecting these problematic tokens. Our findings demonstrate the prevalence of such tokens across a diverse set of models and provide insights into improving the efficiency and safety of language models.
Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures. Accepted at EMNLP 2024, main track. For associated code, see https://github.com/cohere-ai/magikarp/