On the Calibration of Large Language Models and Alignment

Chiwei Zhu, Benfeng Xu, Quan Wang, Yongdong Zhang, Zhendong Mao

Submission Type: Regular Long Paper

Submission Track: Language Modeling and Analysis of Language Models

Keywords: Large Language Models, Calibration

Abstract: As large language models attract increasing attention and find widespread application, concurrent challenges of reliability also arise at the same time. Confidence calibration, an effective analysis method for gauging the reliability of deep models, serves as a crucial tool for assessing and improving their reliability. However, such investigation has been comparatively underexplored. In this work, we conduct a systematic examination of the calibration of aligned language models throughout the entire construction process, including pretraining and alignment training. At each stage, we investigate how different training settings, such as parameter scales and training data, affect model calibration. To thoroughly assess model calibration, we evaluate models on three most concerned aspects: generation, factuality and understanding. Our work sheds light on whether popular LLMs are well-calibrated and how the training process influences model calibration.

Submission Number: 943