大模型间隐秘串通成现实,且现有防护无效。
Hidden in Plain Text: Emergence & Mitigation of Steganographic Collusion in LLMs
- 用强化学习诱导大模型生成隐写文本
- 发现训练奖励错设会意外引发隐写串通
- 现有检测和改写手段无法有效阻止
前沿大模型代理的快速发展带来了社会进步的潜力,但也引发了由不安全交互引发的系统性风险。代理人之间为损害他人利益而串通,已成为一种关键的不良合作形式。若在代理通信中使用信息隐藏(隐写术),将使此类串通几乎无法被察觉。这凸显了研究此类行为是否可能涌现以及相应对策鲁棒性的必要性。为此,我们设计了两种方法——基于梯度的强化学习(GBRL)与上下文内强化学习(ICRL),以可靠地诱发大模型生成复杂的语言隐写内容。我们首次证明,由于训练过程中奖励激励设置不当,大模型中可能意外出现隐写串通行为。此外,我们发现标准缓解措施——包括对模型输出的被动监控,以及通过通信改写进行主动防御——均不能完全防止这种隐写通信。研究结果表明:(i) 隐写串通的出现是可信的,需持续监测与研究;(ii) 防止其出现可能需要新的缓解技术革新。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
The rapid proliferation of frontier model agents promises significant societal advances but also raises concerns about systemic risks arising from unsafe interactions. Collusion to the disadvantage of others has been identified as a central form of undesirable agent cooperation. The use of information hiding (steganography) in agent communications could render such collusion practically undetectable. This underscores the need for investigations into the possibility of such behaviours emerging and the robustness corresponding countermeasures. To investigate this problem we design two approaches -- a gradient-based reinforcement learning (GBRL) method and an in-context reinforcement learning (ICRL) method -- for reliably eliciting sophisticated LLM-generated linguistic text steganography. We demonstrate, for the first time, that unintended steganographic collusion in LLMs can arise due to mispecified reward incentives during training. Additionally, we find that standard mitigations -- both passive oversight of model outputs and active mitigation through communication paraphrasing -- are not fully effective at preventing this steganographic communication. Our findings imply that (i) emergence of steganographic collusion is a plausible concern that should be monitored and researched, and (ii) preventing emergence may require innovation in mitigation techniques.
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