Offline Skill Distillation for Long-Horizon LLM Decision-Making

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Solution Overview

Problem

Large language models (LLMs) face challenges in generating high-quality solutions for complex and long-horizon tasks due to limited context length and the need for extensive fine-tuning, especially in heterogeneous real-world environments, leading to resource-intensive online task-specific reasoning and action.

Innovation Solution

An offline data-driven method that segments skills from interaction logs, abstracts reusable functions, and generates distilled tips to augment the LLM, allowing it to complete tasks without fine-tuning, using both text-based and code-based policies.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If few-shot examples are provided to LLM for in-context learning, then the LLM can perform one-step text generation tasks, but the examples are insufficient for complex and long-horizon tasks requiring sequential decision-making

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvein-context learning capabilityVSAvoidperformance on complex sequential tasks
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing offline interaction data into skill-oriented sub-trajectories and distilling task-specific knowledge before the LLM needs to solve complex tasks. This preparation work creates structured training materials that enable the LLM to handle sequential decision-making without extensive fine-tuning.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary processing layer that transforms raw interaction data into skill-oriented sub-trajectories and distilled tips. This intermediary structure bridges the gap between simple few-shot examples and complex sequential tasks, enabling the LLM to leverage offline data effectively without direct fine-tuning.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If large amount of data or demonstrations are provided to improve task understanding, then the LLM can better understand environment dynamics, but the context length of LLM is limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveunderstanding of environment dynamicsVSAvoidcontext window size
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLength of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the context by dividing interaction data into skill-oriented sub-trajectories focused on specific skills. This segmentation allows the LLM to process relevant information in manageable chunks rather than being overwhelmed by the full context, effectively bypassing the context length limitation while maintaining reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts only the most relevant task-specific information from offline data through distillation, creating condensed tips and knowledge representations. This extraction process removes unnecessary information while retaining critical insights about environment dynamics, fitting within the LLM's context window.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Manufacturing precision

If extensive finetuning is performed to improve LLM performance on specific tasks, then task-specific accuracy improves, but technical resources such as CPU, memory and other resources are heavily consumed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetask-specific accuracyVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of modifying the LLM through resource-intensive fine-tuning, the system creates copies of task-specific knowledge in the form of distilled tips and skill-oriented sub-trajectories. These copied knowledge representations can be injected into the LLM's context without altering the model weights, achieving task-specific accuracy with minimal computational resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the parameters of the input data rather than the model itself. By transforming offline interaction data into skill-oriented sub-trajectories and distilled tips, the system modifies the input distribution to match task requirements, achieving adaptation without the computational cost of fine-tuning model parameters.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS20250284965A1System and method for offline data-driven discovery and distillation for sequential decision-making with large language models
Publication Date: 2025.09.11 JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NA
  • US20250284965A1 patent drawing
  • US20250284965A1 patent drawing
  • US20250284965A1 patent drawing

AI summary

A method and system for performing a task requiring a plurality of sequential decision-making operations by an autonomous agent are disclosed. The method includes acquiring a portion of offline data from a database, and discovering a set of separate skills. The method further includes segmenting the offline data and segmenting the offline data according to skill, and abstracting the segmented offline data into reusable functions. From the abstracted reusable functions, distilling primitives for each skill and distilling reusable tips in various functions. Modifying skill based text-based and code-based policies for augmenting the autonomous agent, and processing a task requiring a set of sequential decision-making operations using the augmented autonomous agents.