# Sparse and Expandable Network for Google's Pathways

## TL;DR

This paper introduces SEN, a new AI architecture that improves multi-task learning by handling multiple tasks efficiently and avoiding interference.

## Contribution

The novel SEN model enables sparse and expandable learning for multi-modal tasks in AI systems.

## Key findings

- SEN effectively manages task interference and forgetting in multi-task learning.
- The model integrates data from various modalities while maintaining sparsity.
- SEN provides an efficient solution for lifelong learning in AI systems.

## Abstract

Recently, Google introduced Pathways as its next-generation AI architecture. Pathways must address three critical challenges: learning one general model for several continuous tasks, ensuring tasks can leverage each other without forgetting old tasks, and learning from multi-modal data such as images and audio. Additionally, Pathways must maintain sparsity in both learning and deployment. Current lifelong multi-task learning approaches are inadequate in addressing these challenges.

To address these challenges, we propose SEN, a Sparse and Expandable Network. SEN is designed to handle multiple tasks concurrently by maintaining sparsity and enabling expansion when new tasks are introduced. The network leverages multi-modal data, integrating information from different sources while preventing interference between tasks.

The proposed SEN model demonstrates significant improvements in multi-task learning, successfully managing task interference and forgetting. It effectively integrates data from various modalities and maintains efficiency through sparsity during both the learning and deployment phases.

SEN offers a straightforward yet effective solution to the limitations of current lifelong multi-task learning methods. By addressing the challenges identified in the Pathways architecture, SEN provides a promising approach for developing AI systems capable of learning and adapting over time without sacrificing performance or efficiency.