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Light Alignment Improves LLM Safety via Model Self-Reflection with a Single Neuron

Authors: Sicheng Shen, Mingyang Lv, Han Shen, Jialin Wu, Binghao Wang, Zhou Yang, Guobin Shen, Dongcheng Zhao, Feifei Zhao, Yi Zeng

Published: 2026-02-02

arXiv ID: 2602.02027v1

Added to Library: 2026-02-03 08:09 UTC

Safety

📄 Abstract

The safety of large language models (LLMs) has increasingly emerged as a fundamental aspect of their development. Existing safety alignment for LLMs is predominantly achieved through post-training methods, which are computationally expensive and often fail to generalize well across different models. A small number of lightweight alignment approaches either rely heavily on prior-computed safety injections or depend excessively on the model's own capabilities, resulting in limited generalization and degraded efficiency and usability during generation. In this work, we propose a safety-aware decoding method that requires only low-cost training of an expert model and employs a single neuron as a gating mechanism. By effectively balancing the model's intrinsic capabilities with external guidance, our approach simultaneously preserves utility and enhances output safety. It demonstrates clear advantages in training overhead and generalization across model scales, offering a new perspective on lightweight alignment for the safe and practical deployment of large language models. Code: https://github.com/Beijing-AISI/NGSD.

🔍 Key Points

  • The introduction of Neuron Guided Safe Decoding (NGSD), a lightweight and effective safety-aware decoding method for large language models (LLMs) that only requires minimal training of an expert model and employs a single neuron as a gating mechanism. This approach reduces training overhead and improves generalization across model scales.
  • NGSD couples the model's intrinsic risk awareness with external safety guidance, allowing for selective safety intervention during the decoding process based on the detected risk level rather than applying uniform safety constraints throughout generation.
  • Extensive experiments demonstrate that NGSD provides robust safety guarantees while maintaining utility, outperforming existing safety alignment methods across various benchmarks while minimizing false refusals and maintaining strong usability in real-world tasks.

💡 Why This Paper Matters

This paper presents a significant advancement in the field of AI safety for language models by proposing an innovative decoding strategy that achieves a balance between safety and usability. The method's lightweight nature makes it practical for real-world applications while ensuring that LLMs adhere to safety protocols, making this work a crucial contribution for the ongoing development of responsible AI technologies.

🎯 Why It's Interesting for AI Security Researchers

This paper is particularly relevant for AI security researchers due to its focus on enhancing the safety of large language models, a critical area amid growing concerns over AI-generated harms. The proposed methods address existing limitations in current safety alignment approaches, offering solutions that could be broadly applicable in securing AI systems against adversarial attacks and promoting ethical AI use.

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