Unlocking Time Series: How LLMs Can Adapt

Have you ever considered using Large Language Models (LLMs) for time series (TS) tasks? Instead of training new models from scratch, you can fine-tune existing LLMs to handle TS data. This approach is known as TS-for-LLM. The challenge with TS data is its complexity and scarcity. To tackle this, a method called TEST is used. It breaks down TS data into small bits and feeds them into an encoder. This encoder creates a summary, or embedding, that the LLM can understand.TEST then uses soft prompts to guide the LLM in adapting to this new data type. Finally, these pre-trained LLMs can perform tasks like classification, forecasting, and representation. Experiments showed that this method outperformed some of the top time series models. It's particularly effective with small datasets and generalizes well. What's great about TEST is that it doesn't interfere with the LLM's language abilities. It simply teaches the LLM to handle TS data. This is a significant advancement for those working with both TS data and LLMs.