让大模型代理提前退出,减少无效操作但不影响任务完成。
Runaway is Ashamed, But Helpful: On the Early-Exit Behavior of Large Language Model-based Agents in Embodied Environments
- 在生成时注入退出指令,或根据任务完成度判断是否终止
- 冗余步骤减少超70%,性能下降不足5%
- 适合想提升智能体效率的研究者和开发者
基于大语言模型(LLMs)的智能体在复杂具身环境中展现出强大的规划与决策能力。然而,这些智能体在多轮交互中常陷入重复循环或发出无效指令,导致计算资源浪费。本文首次探索了基于LLM智能体的早期退出行为,提出两种互补方法:1. 内在法,在生成过程中注入退出指令;2. 外在法,通过验证任务完成度决定是否终止智能体的尝试。为评估早期退出机制,引入两项指标:一是衡量冗余步骤的减少(正向效果),二是评估进展退化(负向影响)。在5个具身环境上使用4种不同LLM的实验表明,效率显著提升,性能仅小幅下降。此外,验证了一种实用策略:由更强的智能体在早期退出后接手,可在相同总步数下实现更优表现。代码将公开以支持后续研究。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Agents powered by large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated strong planning and decision-making capabilities in complex embodied environments. However, such agents often suffer from inefficiencies in multi-turn interactions, frequently trapped in repetitive loops or issuing ineffective commands, leading to redundant computational overhead. Instead of relying solely on learning from trajectories, we take a first step toward exploring the early-exit behavior for LLM-based agents. We propose two complementary approaches: 1. an $\textbf{intrinsic}$ method that injects exit instructions during generation, and 2. an $\textbf{extrinsic}$ method that verifies task completion to determine when to halt an agent's trial. To evaluate early-exit mechanisms, we introduce two metrics: one measures the reduction of $\textbf{redundant steps}$ as a positive effect, and the other evaluates $\textbf{progress degradation}$ as a negative effect. Experiments with 4 different LLMs across 5 embodied environments show significant efficiency improvements, with only minor drops in agent performance. We also validate a practical strategy where a stronger agent assists after an early-exit agent, achieving better performance with the same total steps. We will release our code to support further research.
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