How can I fine-tune a large language model with a small dataset while avoiding overfitting?

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How can I fine-tune a large language model with a small dataset while avoiding overfitting?

Asked on Jan 10, 2026

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Fine-tuning a large language model with a small dataset requires careful strategies to prevent overfitting. This involves using techniques such as data augmentation, regularization, and early stopping to ensure the model generalizes well.

Example Concept: Fine-tuning a large language model on a small dataset involves several key steps: First, use data augmentation to artificially expand the dataset. Then, apply regularization techniques like dropout or weight decay to prevent the model from learning noise. Additionally, employ early stopping to monitor the model's performance on a validation set and halt training when performance starts to degrade, indicating potential overfitting.

Additional Comment:

Data augmentation can include techniques like synonym replacement or back-translation to create varied inputs.
Regularization methods such as dropout randomly deactivate neurons during training, which helps the model learn more robust features.
Early stopping involves tracking the validation loss and stopping training when it begins to increase, which helps prevent overfitting.
Consider using transfer learning by starting with a pre-trained model, which can reduce the amount of data needed for effective fine-tuning.
Ensure that the model's architecture is not excessively complex for the dataset size to maintain a balance between capacity and generalization.

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How can I fine-tune a large language model with a small dataset while avoiding overfitting?

Asked on Jan 10, 2026

Answer

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