HOW DIFFUSION MODELS MEMORIZE
Overview
Paper Summary
This paper uncovers that diffusion models memorize training data not just due to overfitting, but primarily because of "early overestimation" of training samples during denoising, driven by classifier-free guidance. This overestimation amplifies the training image's contribution, suppressing initial randomness and causing generated images to converge rapidly to memorized content. The severity of memorization directly correlates with these deviations from the theoretical denoising schedule.
Explain Like I'm Five
Imagine a drawing robot learning from pictures. When it's told to draw something specific, it gets overly confident too early, forcing it to copy parts of an old drawing it saw, instead of creating something new and unique.
Possible Conflicts of Interest
None identified
Identified Limitations
Rating Explanation
This paper provides a groundbreaking, fundamental explanation for a critical problem in generative AI—memorization in diffusion models. It rigorously challenges existing assumptions about overfitting, offering detailed empirical evidence and theoretical derivations for the mechanism of "early overestimation." The findings are highly significant for advancing our understanding of these models and paving the way for safer generative systems.
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