On Support Samples of Next Word Prediction

Abstract

Language models excel in various tasks by making complex decisions, yet understanding the rationale behind these decisions remains a challenge. This paper investigates \emph{data-centric interpretability} in language models, focusing on the next-word prediction task. Using representer theorem, we identify two types of \emph{support samples}-those that either promote or deter specific predictions. Our findings reveal that being a support sample is an intrinsic property, predictable even before training begins. Additionally, while non-support samples are less influential in direct predictions, they play a critical role in preventing overfitting and shaping generalization and representation learning. Notably, the importance of non-support samples increases in deeper layers, suggesting their significant role in intermediate representation formation. These insights shed light on the interplay between data and model decisions, offering a new dimension to understanding language model behavior and interpretability.