Self-Generated Feedback Destabilizes Test-Time Training: A Causal Decomposition of Long-Horizon Adaptation
Summary
This paper shows that models adapting on their own generated text during inference destabilize over long (128K-token) horizons, and proposes a causal decomposition plus a 'Settlement' validation mechanism that tests candidate updates on independent text before retaining them, substantially reducing damage while preserving genuine adaptation.
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Paper page - Self-Generated Feedback Destabilizes Test-Time Training: A Causal Decomposition of Long-Horizon Adaptation
Source: https://huggingface.co/papers/2610.05076 Hi everyone! Author here 👋 What happens when a model keeps learning from its own outputs during inference? We study this feedback loop over 128K-token streams with TTT-E2E models from 125M to 3B and Adam-based adaptation of Qwen3-4B. Our key findings:
Feedback matters: using a frozen model to generate the training text removes over 98% of the damage at 125M and 760M, even though the learner still updates on generated text.
Better source fit can mean worse transfer: an update can improve prediction of its training passage while hurting independent real text.
Validate before committing: Settlement tests candidate updates on independent text before retaining them, substantially reducing damage while preserving real-text adaptation. Code:https://github.com/lingjivoo/ttt-ouroboros We’d love to hear your thoughts on how continuously adapting models should decide which updates to keep!
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