GRAFT: Gradient-Aware Fast MaxVol Technique for Dynamic Data Sampling

Abstract

Training modern neural networks on large datasets is computationally and environmentally costly. We introduce GRAFT, a scalable in-training subset selection method that (i) extracts a low-rank feature representation for each batch, (ii) applies a Fast MaxVol sampler to select a small, diverse subset that spans the batch's dominant subspace, and (iii) dynamically adjusts the subset size using a gradient-approximation criterion. By operating in low-rank subspaces and training on carefully chosen examples instead of full batches, GRAFT preserves the training trajectory while reducing wall-clock time, energy consumption, and $\mathrm{CO}_2$ emissions. Across multiple benchmarks, GRAFT matches or exceeds recent selection baselines in both accuracy and efficiency, providing a favorable trade-off between accuracy, efficiency, and emissions.