CoTuning: A Large-Small Model Collaborating Distillation Framework for Better Model Generalization

Model compression and distillation techniques have become essential for deploying deep learning models efficiently. However, existing methods often encounter challenges related to model generalization and scalability for harnessing the expertise of pre-trained large models. This paper introduces CoTuning, a novel framework designed to enhance the generalization ability of neural networks by leveraging collaborative learning between large and small models. CoTuning overcomes the limitations of traditional compression and distillation techniques by introducing strategies for knowledge exchange and simultaneous optimization. Our framework comprises an adapter-based co-tuning mechanism between cloud and edge models, a scale-shift projection for feature alignment, and a novel collaborative knowledge distillation mechanism for domain-agnostic tasks. Extensive experiments conducted on various benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of CoTuning in improving model generalization while maintaining computational efficiency and scalability. The proposed framework exhibits a significant advancement in model compression and distillation, with broad implications for research in the collaborative evolution of large-small models.