FREE: Faster and Better Data-Free Meta-Learning
Authors: Yongxian Wei, Zixuan Hu, Zhenyi Wang, Li Shen, Chun Yuan, Dacheng Tao

Data-Free Meta-Learning (DFML) aims to extract knowledge from a collection of pre-trained models without requiring the original data presenting practical benefits in contexts constrained by data privacy concerns. Current DFML methods primarily focus on the data recovery from these pre-trained models. However they suffer from slow recovery speed and overlook gaps inherent in heterogeneous pre-trained models. In response to these challenges we introduce the Faster and Better Data-Free Meta-Learning (FREE) framework which contains: (i) a meta-generator for rapidly recovering training tasks from pre-trained models; and (ii) a meta-learner for generalizing to new unseen tasks. Specifically within the module Faster Inversion via Meta-Generator each pre-trained model is perceived as a distinct task. The meta-generator can rapidly adapt to a specific task in just five steps significantly accelerating the data recovery. Furthermore we propose Better Generalization via Meta-Learner and introduce an implicit gradient alignment algorithm to optimize the meta-learner. This is achieved as aligned gradient directions alleviate potential conflicts among tasks from heterogeneous pre-trained models. Empirical experiments on multiple benchmarks affirm the superiority of our approach marking a notable speed-up (20x) and performance enhancement (1.42%   4.78%) in comparison to the state-of-the-art.